A Fragment of the Past
by DelTheAUO
Summary: Honkai and Herrschers were meant to exist in the past and stay in the past. They were a dark part of history that were meant to be hidden from future eyes. What happens when a Fragment of the hidden past made it into the current civilization?
1. Chapter 1

Hello there, DelTheAUO here!

I've read a lot of fanfics on this site, and have decided to try my hand at making my own. This one is a crossover with Honkai Impact 3rd, a game that I've come to enjoy recently. This might be the only Naruto X Honkai Impact Fanfic on this site, so I hope it's a decent one for you readers!

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"Speech"

'Thought'

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(Deep under Konoha – ROOT Base)

"Bring in the next subject", said a gruffy voice, as two ROOT agents, brought in an unconscious man, and carefully placed him on some restraints embedded into a wall and secured him in place. Another ROOT agent, brought a small container, which consisted of a palm sized, violet crystal that was radiating such a presence, that it had to be stored carefully inside a specialized container.

The agent put on some gloves lined with hundreds of layered chakra absorption seals, and carefully took out the crystal. Out of its container, the energy radiated even more, resulting in everyone within the base detecting it's presence. The only reason the Hokage was not alerted, was due to the seals lining the walls of the base, and the gloves, which contained the energy in close proximity.

"Beginning the test on subject XX422." Said the ROOT ANBU with an tone devoid of any and all emotion, as the crystal was slowly brought close to the man's chest, but even before anything could happen, the man's eyes suddenly shot open and he began screaming in agony, as his skin began to burn, and his blood vessels felt like they had lava pored into them. The water within him began to boil, and within a matter of seconds, he was a pile of ash. The whole time, the ROOT agents, and the owner of the mysterious voice did not react to the screams.

"A waste. He had some potential, but it wasn't enough. We need a more durable body…." said the voice, until a plan came to mind…

(A few days later)

Naruto Uzumaki was not having a great day.

(Flashback)

It was a fine morning to start off with. No broken window? Check. No signs of intruders in the middle of the night? Check. Supply of Instant Ramen for breakfast? Check. Looks like it was a pretty uneventful night, which was perfectly alright with him. It was all going so well, until he noticed the time… it was 8:30 AM.

'Damnit! I'm supposed to meet Jiji for my enrolment at the academy at 9! Gotta hurry now…' he though frantically as he quickly threw on his clothes, a simple white t-shirt, with an orange flame mark in the middle, and some blue shorts. He stared at the unopened cup of Instant Ramen while thinking quickly. He had to make the decision right now. With a heavy heart, he quickly put it back in it's respective shelf, and picked up an apple lying on a table nearby. No way he was going to go hungry on his first day at the academy.

All that was left was to put on his sandals and leave. With the apple in his mouth, he quickly locked the front door and left. In his hurry, he didn't have time to look at the various disturbing messages written outside his apartment, most of which, were in red paint, giving them a likeness of blood.

(Time skip)

He made it in time, having eaten the apple on the way, he saw the elderly Hokage standing in front of the academy building, who seemed to be engrossed in deep thought.

"Jiji!" he yelled and waved, grabbing the old man's attention and bringing him back from the realm of thought. The Hokage, having noticed the young boy of 8 running as fast as his tiny legs could, waved back at him. Finally, having reached his destination, the blond boy panted heavily, as he recovered the air that he had lost.

"Now, now. There was no need to hurry. I wouldn't have had a problem waiting for a few more minutes." said the old man as he patted the boy's back.

"Thanks Jiji, but I was really excited you know? Meeting new friends and finally beginning my first step to becoming Hokage!" he said, the excitement barely being contained in him.

"I see. Well, since you're here, might as well go in." Said the Hokage, as he led the soon-to-be academy student into the building…

(Flashback end)

What was supposed to be a fun day of making new friends and learning new things turned out to be one that he was completely unprepared for. The whispers and isolation from the students, the different treatment that he received from the teachers, the stares from the parents of his classmates as they came to pick up their children… all of this built up on top of each other.

Disappointed at how his first day at the academy went, he began to walk back to his apartment with his head hung low. Maybe some ramen at Ichiraku's would help him. They always knew how to make him feel better after all.

Not noticing where he was going, he bumped into a man, who, judging by the stumble in his step, was clearly drunk. "Oi, watch where you- It's the demon! Get it!" he said as he began to wave the broken bottle at the boy, causing him to start running away in fear, as a few other villagers began to chase him around the streets of Konoha.

After about an hour of chasing, he turned back and noticed that the crowd chasing him had become slightly larger than it had started off. He could feel his breathing getting heavier with every single step, and his legs burning with pain. He needed to rest soon, or else he would pass out. Noticing a hole in a nearby wall that was large enough for him to squeeze through, he did not hesitate in using that convenient means of escape.

On the other side of the wall, there was a completely clear alleyway, with no people in the nearby area. Releasing a deep sigh of relief, he sat down to regain his breath and to soothe his aching legs. As he recovered, he began to contemplate about what had happened. He was aware that people had some hostility towards him, but could not tell why. Before he could think any further, he was silently approached by a shadowy figure, that knocked him unconscious instantly. The shadowy figure crept back into the shadows, where it could not be seen. Once it had confirmed that the coast was clear, it disappeared into the shadows of the village and made its way to a secret location…

(Time skip)

When Naruto came to, he found himself on the floor of a cell. He was bound to the wall by a shackle, and had some weird collar around his neck that had numerous squiggles on it, that he could barely comprehend. He looked outside his cell and spotted an ANBU.

"Hey! Why am I in here? I haven't done anything wrong!" he yelled as loudly as his parched throat allowed him to, but he got no response. At this point he was too exhausted to say anything and sat in the corner of the room. He was too hungry and thirsty to think about anything other than how to satiate the pangs of hunger striking him. He weakly crawled to the bars of his cell. 'Jiji will come, he'll get me out of this.' he thought with hope.

"Please, can you at least give me some water, I might not last much longer…" he said in a very weak and desperate tone. The ANBU considered his options…he didn't want the next subject to die, or else his master would reprimand him severely. He sighed and took out a flask of water and gave it to the weakened boy, who guzzled it down as if it was the last flask of water in the world.

After drinking the water, he thanked the ANBU and went back to the corner, completely unaware of what was going to happen to him…

(Time Skip)

The next time he awoke, he found himself strapped to a wall with various locking mechanisms keeping him in place. In front of him were about 5 ROOT agents, along with a man, however the shadows prevented him from seeing the man's face. The lack of any nourishment to his body for who knows how long, had caused his head to hurt and prevented him from hearing or seeing things clearly.

"Impossible, he shouldn't be awake. Are you sure you sedated him properly?" said the gruffy voice of the man in the shadows with a very displeased tone.

"Yes Danzo-Sama. We administered the highest dosage that was below the lethal level to account for the corrosive effect of the Bijuu chakra. It seems that it was not sufficient. Should I prepare another dose?" said a ROOT agent.

"No, it's alright. Let him witness what he is going to undergo. If he survives, he will know who gave him his power." said the now named Danzo as he stepped out of the shadows. Revealing himself to the boy, who was still unable to see clearly.

"Boy," said Danzo with a forceful tone. "Remember this, the power that you are being granted is for the good of Konoha. You would do well to burn that into your memory.." He said and walked back to his original place in the shadows. "Begin the procedure on subject XX423." he ordered to a ROOT operative.

"Yes Danzo-sama" said the operative, as another one brought the container containing the crystal. He was about to bring it close to the whiskered boy's chest when he was suddenly ordered.

"Stop. Take it towards the seal. It would provide a better means of containment. Four of you, come here and take this seal. It will help in further containment of the energy. One of you, take this different seal. It will subdue the Kyuubi's chakra in case it begins to seep out." said Danzo, as the operatives took the seals and were prepared for any accidents.

Danzo nodded at the operative with the crystal. On confirmation, the crystal was brought closer to the seal. As the tip of the crystal touched the seal, a sudden reaction occurred, and the crystal completely slipped in. This caused the whiskered boy, who was trying to make sense of what was happening to him, fall into unconsciousness.

(Within the Seal)

The Kyuubi, the most powerful of the Nine Bijuu was afraid. Yes. It was truly afraid. It had been peacefully taking a nap, when it felt its energy being drained at a very high rate. It quickly woke up and found the source of his weakening being a strange purple crystal, which was radiating a powerful aura. The aura being radiated was unlike anything that it had felt before. Not even the Rikudo Sennin, the strongest being he's known, radiated this much energy.

The crystal began taking a humanoid shape, one that was neither male or female, and began draining even more Chakra from the Kyuubi. Not liking the current situation one bit, the Kyuubi swiped at the crystal-being, which evaded the attack.

The crystal-being, wanting more of the Kyuubi's Chakra, lunged at it, with a spear made out of energy and sparks around it, indicating the element of lightning. In the blink of an eye, the crystal-being dashed around the Kyuubi, making numerous slashes on its Chakra-body with multiple slashes, causing it to snarl in annoyance.

The Kyuubi began to charge a Bijuudama, fully intent on destroying the being that tried to steal its chakra, once and for all. The crystal being quickly jumped back, as the Kyuubi fired the Bijuudama, causing a massive explosion. As the dust died down, the crystal-being was unscathed, with a barrier of lightning extending around it from its outstretched palm.

The Kyuubi was astonished that its most powerful attack was blocked like that. Before it could do anything, the crystal-being appeared above the Bijuu, Lightning blade pointed downward. With blistering speed, it stabbed the blade deep into the Kyuubi. It began pumping more energy into the blade, causing a pillar of white light to erupt around them.

(At the same time)

Naruto was screaming, as he felt like his body was on fire, which it was. His skin started showing signs of burning, which healed quickly as small amounts of the Kyuubi's chakra began to seep through. Danzo sighed. XX423 was going to be the same as the others then…

…Or that was what he thought until the screaming abruptly stopped.

(Back in the seal)

The blinding light began to fade, showing what was left of the battle. The Kyuubi's chakra was scattered everywhere in puddles of slightly viscous, red chakra. The crystal-being was left unscathed after the attack. The Kyuubi's chakra, being sentient, looked for a way to escape from this new threat, and the only way to do so, was slip into its host's chakra system. Seeking the energy of the Kyuubi, the crystal-being dispersed into energy and began to integrate itself into its new host.

(Back in the outside world)

The screams stopped, as Naruto fell silent. All the ROOT Operatives and Danzo were surprised, as this was a completely new development, since normally, the screams stopped when the subject had turned into ash.

The ROOT agents, due to their training, were barely able to avoid an arc of lightning that shot out from Naruto's prone form. Another followed. Another after that. Eventually, his body was nearly covered in the electricity that the boy's body was radiating. After a few minutes, the boy opened his eyes. They were not his usual blue, but a bright shade of Magenta. The bursts of electricity became even more intense, causing the ROOT Operatives and Danzo to be extremely worried now. A highly dense bolt of blue-violet lightning shot out from him into the sky, piercing everything in between.

"Everyone fall back! Get as far away as possible!" The old war hawk ordered as all the ROOT members tried to escape the base as fast as they could, however, only a handful of them, including Danzo managed to survive the massive blast of white lightning that crashed down on the base, resulting in a massive hole in the ground.

It would take hours for the dust to clear, by then Hiruzen would have gathered a handful of his ANBU and gone to the site, only to find a massive hole in the ground, charred rubble and one Naruto Uzumaki in the middle of it all, with an eerie red glow on his back…

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And that is the end of my first chapter! Reviews would be appreciated, since based on the feedback I get on this chapter, I will decide whether to continue this story or not. I will accept constructive criticism, not flames. This is my first fanfic, so I'm bound to make a few mistakes here and there.

In case I do continue though, there will not be any fixed schedule for updates. Life as a college student does have its downsides…

I will try to answer questions in the reviews to the best of my ability.

Thanks for reading this chapter!

DelTheAUO, Out.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello there, DelTheAUO here!

Thanks for the positive response on the first chapter! I didn't expect this crossover to be as popular as it is, considering nobody has written a fanfic about it.

Without any delays, let's get to it!

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"So…what's his condition?" asked the aged Hokage as he looked at the bed that the boy that he considered a grandson lay on. The doctor in front of him let out a sigh as he faced the man.

"It's…difficult to say right now. He was terribly ill for the past few days, but he has recovered for the most part from it. Internally, however, is a whole new case." said the doctor. "His chakra…I'm not even sure what it is anymore. It is a lot denser than before, and manifested itself as lightning occasionally during our testing. Luckily, nobody's been hurt severely by it. As for that red mark on his back, we still don't know what it is. It seems to be connected to Naruto-kun's new lightning abilities, since it has the same level of density as his new chakra. We haven't been able to examine it very much since it fires off bolts of lightning if we try to get too close to it."

The Hokage put a hand on his chin and began to think about what had just happened over the past week. He had been flooded with work and meetings, so he didn't have time to check on Naruto every day. So, it was a big surprise to him, when he found some free time to visit the boy, only to find Naruto's apartment empty, and with no sign of anyone having lived there recently.

Fearing the worst, he went to the academy to enquire about his attendance. His fears grew when he found out that Naruto hadn't gone to the academy in a week. Without a moment's haste, he summoned every single ANBU in the vicinity and ordered them to search for the boy. Just as the search was about to begin, a pillar of white light erupted from the heavens, and crashed down on the ground with no mercy, causing the entire village to shake.

Noticing the point of impact being right outside the village, he quickly rushed out. The ANBU could handle something as finding Naruto, but if this was an attack by an enemy, then this could spell major trouble for the future of Konoha. Having such an attack in the middle of the village would cause some major damage.

After noticing Naruto's prone body with that glowing red mark on his back, he wasted no time and took him away from the ruins to the hospital, and demanded for the boy to be treated immediately, the results of which is in front of him.

The once completely blond boy now had shades of black in the tips of his hair, his skin had grown a little paler, but most importantly, the whisker marks on his cheeks had all but faded away. Only small remnants were left behind to remind the world of their existence.

He was broken from his thoughts as the boy started to scream once more, with violet lightning arcing from his body. The dark tips on his hair began to grow ever so lightly with each passing second. The Hokage was quick to act, placing a chakra suppression seal on the boy's head, causing the screams to stop. However, sparks of electricity continued to zip across his skin. The Hokage took a few steps back, in case the boy's new power went out of control.

The shock of the pain seemed to have awoken the boy, who sat up on his bed while panting heavily. Another change that Hiruzen noted was the change in the boy's eyes. Instead of the bright blue that reminded him of his successor, they were now an unusual shade of violet.

"Leave us." the Hokage ordered the doctor in the room, who promptly left to avoid being struck by any more lightning.

"Ji…Ji…" said Naruto with a hoarse voice, and then began coughing, causing the Hokage to quickly stand up and bring the boy some water, who greedily gulped all of it down. After catching his breath, he opened his mouth once more.

"Where am I?" he said with a blank, yet slightly hoarse voice, the pain and lack of nourishment for that unknown period of time made his head spin and dulled his senses. The water helped though, and he could feel himself returning back to normal. "And how long have I been here?"

"You're in the hospital right now, and you've been here for 2 days. How do you feel now?" said the Hokage, in genuine concern for the boy.

"Why?" said the boy, with a pained tone "Why didn't you come? The pain…" he said, as tears started to come out of his non-violet eyes. Hiruzen brought a hand to wipe them away, but it was swatted away by the boy's.

"How long has it been since the day I joined the academy?" he asked, with slight anger in his voice. Hiruzen's eyes widened at the implication. The boy that he had considered his own grandson had been taken away for so long, without him keeping an eye on the boy to take care of his wellbeing?

"…a week before we found you. It's been almost a week since we brought you here.", said Hiruzen with a sigh. Looks like the boy was not pleased by his answer.

"A week… I was kidnapped for a week with neither you or your ANBU having noticed my disappearance?" said the semi-blond boy, the slight anger and hurt still noticeable in his tone. "So… you really don't care about me all that much huh…"

"No! That's not true at all, my boy. I do care about you a great deal. But I have my duties as Hokage- "the man responded before being interrupted. "Your duties could at wait for a few minutes so that you could visit me once a day. Your smile and presence used to make me happy. Now, I'm not so sure."

"Naruto, I truly apologize for the circumstances that you had to undergo through for the past week, and I wish for you to have faith in me, for I truly care for your wellbeing" said the Hokage, trying to calm him down.

"If you care about my wellbeing, the please tell me. Why do the villagers hate me so much? Why do they treat me as such?" asked Naruto.

After a short pause, Hiruzen sighed. "I cannot tell you know Naruto. you are still too young to know about this. I will tell you in the future. That, I promise." said the man. Revealing about the beast to the boy at this age might cause some panic.

The boy began to get up and unplug himself from all the monitoring devices. The probes were already fried by the discharge of electricity, so they didn't work anyway. "Well then. Until this promise is delivered, I will have very little faith in you. I will respect you as Hokage, and I will be grateful for everything you have done for me until now, but I will never trust you the way I did before." said the boy, causing a stab to the Hokage's heart.

He got off the bed, and began walking to the door, not looking back at the old man. "Whoever did this to me said that this was for the "good of Konoha". He said as he stopped at the doorway. "But after the way I have been treated up until now…" he said as a red glow emanated from his back and his eyes turned a shade of magenta, "…I find no reason to do anything for them." he said, his voice sounding a little more…distorted. Hiruzen tried to move and stop the boy, but he didn't want to make things worse between them.

He then made a promise to himself. He would never let any of this happen again. He had failed the boy too many times now, but he was going to protect this boy for sure this time, Hokage duties be damned. The boy deserved to be treated as a hero for holding the Kyuubi at bay, yet here he was, unable to control his own people. Maybe the boy did have a point there.

"Please do not visit me any time soon. I want some time to myself" he said as he left the Hokage's sight, leaving a saddened old man behind.

(A week later)

It had been a week since Naruto had discharged himself from the hospital. At first, he began to crave for the attention of the aged Hokage, and regretted the things that he had said back then. But he managed to get over that feeling and began to get into a new mindset, where he wouldn't be as reliant on Hiruzen for emotional support.

He returned to the academy after a few days. While some people did not recognize him, unfortunately, the academy teachers did. He kept quiet to himself and maintained a distance from others.

There was also that voice.

That distorted voice, which was very difficult to distinguish in gender. It would constantly speak to him about humanity being worms that treat their own like filth. He thought he was hallucinating the entire time and tried to ignore the voice, but it seemed to speak even more. Now, he had been fed up of ignoring it. On his way back home, the decided to try and communicate with the voice.

'Who are you?' he mentally said, thinking that the voice might not hear him. To his surprise, he received a response.

"**Oh, so you finally decided to talk to me. I thought you would ignore me forever." ** said the voice in a smug tone, not that Naruto realized it. **"Since you asked, I'll tell you. I'm-" ** before the voice could finish, Naruto found himself on the ground, looking up, he saw a large man looking at him.

'Oh, not again' he thought and quickly ran away as fast as he could in the opposite direction. If he had paid attention behind him, he would have seen a cloud of dust in his wake…

(Timeskip)

After about 30 minutes of running, the boy stopped to catch his breath and looked at his surroundings… only to find himself outside the village gates.

'Wait, how did I get all the way here so fast?' he thought in shock. He had never been able to run this fast in his entire life. **"Are you calm now?" **said the voice in an annoyed tone.** "Or will you keep me waiting after you rudely cut me off?"**

'Sorry…I was so surprised by what happened and I didn't want a repeat of last time…' he replied as he leaned against the back of a nearby tree, only to hear a voice out of nowhere.

"**HONKAI ENERGY DETETCTED."**

"**STIGMATA SIGNATURE…CONFIRMED"**

"**OPENING HATCH."**

Before the young boy could respond, a hole opened in the tree and swallowed him up before he could react. He began to tumble down the tunnel that began from the hole, towards an unknown destination. He could feel that he was moving downwards, but for how long this would last? He had no clue.

Eventually, he reached the end of the tunnel and landed face first on a mattress. Feeling disoriented from the fall, he regained his bearings to take in the sight that was in front of him.

White light illuminated a small area in front of him, a strange table with a reflective black surface greeted him as he stood up. Curiosity getting the better of him, he got on his toes and touched a dimly lit circle on the table in front of him.

There was an immediate reaction. The entire room lit up in the same white light, revealing its true size. It was a massive area that consisted of more of these black tables, some of which had a glass sheet in front of them. There were a few doors on the side, with some words written over them that was too far to read at the moment. Before he could look around any further, he lost consciousness instantly.

(Unknown Location)

Naruto woke up to find himself in a sewer. He was sure that this wasn't the one in Konoha though. But it had a vague sense of familiarity to him.

"**Took you long enough to get here" **came the exact voice that had been communicating with him for the past week. He quickly turned to look at a humanoid figure with no distinguishing features. Being unnerved by the presence of this unnatural existence, he began to take a few steps back.

"**Oh? Does this appearance scare you? Perhaps my former host's appearance would put you at ease?" **said the figure as it began to change in a flash of light. As the light died down, it's new appearance could be seen. It was distinctly a female with long hair, and armor that covered various parts of the body. It still retained the ominous violet colour. **(Mei's inner Herrscher in the Crimson Impulse Battlesuit)**

"**Ideally, I would have preferred to take your appearance." **said the being, with a feminine tone in the distorted voice. **"But it can't be helped, since I'm **_**her**_** core after all."** it said, as it stretched around the new body. It then gained a smirk on its face.

"**Now…are you ready?"**

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Same as last time, Reviews would be appreciated, Constructive criticism will be accepted, Flames will be ignored. Questions can be asked in the reviews, so feel free to ask.

Please let me know if the quality of writing has declined since the last chapter. That way, I'll see if there's a way I can improve the next one.

Thanks for reading this chapter!

DelTheAUO, Out.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello there, DelTheAUO here!

I'm surprised by the response that I've received for this story. Never knew there would so many people who would enjoy a story of such an obscure premise.

Anyway, let's continue!

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Naruto quickly jumped to the side as the violet-coloured being lunged at him with what appeared to be a blade of light. He rolled over and stood up, facing a possible threat. Anticipating another attack, he bent his knees to jump again, only to be surprised as the blade disappeared from its hands.

"**Oh? Pretty fast on your feet aren't ya? Not bad for a kid." **it said. The boy just responded with a glare. **"Whoa what's the glare for? I put my weapon away." **It said, while raising both its arms, showing that it was unarmed.

"I don't trust you just yet. Who are you and where are we?" he said, without relaxing his body. That attack was extremely fast, and he wasn't sure he could avoid another one.

"**Finally, there are no interruptions to answer that." **it said **"As to who am I? You're asking the wrong question. The correct question to ask is **_**what**_** I am. You'll find the answer to that soon enough." **it received a deadpan look in advance. **"What? You made me wait for a long time, so it's only fair for me to make you wait. But considering where we are, you'll find out soon enough."**

"Where we are...?" asked the boy. **"Right now, we are in the plane of your mind. A place where we can meet with the connection that we have. But outside here, we-" **explained the being, before it held its head, and started mumbling some words

"**You…take…over...fine."** were the only words Naruto could make out, before he noticed colour filling into the energy-like body of the figure standing in front of him. The violet eyes remained, the armor took on a bright red colour, and the hair darkened in colour.

"Sorry about that. Hikari might have gone overboard." said a new voice, free of that distortion that the old one predominantly had. The expression on this new person was that of kindness and warmth, and unconsciously, made Naruto relax a little.

"Oh, we never introduced ourselves, did we? I'm Raiden Mei, and that was Hikari, my Herrscher core. Nice to meet you Naruto." she said with a smile.

"Herr…what was that word?" asked Naruto. It did not sound like a word that was used often, so he found it difficult to pronounce. "Anyway, what just happened? How did I get here?"

"Hikari brought you in here. I guess she got tired of being interrupted. As to what happened, I'll just let you discover on your own." She said, as everything faded to black once more.

(In the real world)

Naruto opened his eyes, clutching his head. It appeared that he was in the same room that he had lost consciousness in. Suddenly, he heard Mei's voice.

"Hmm, so it's still intact…well, not completely." she said, as Naruto looked around for her. "Don't bother searching for me. I'm still in the same place where we met", she said with a slight giggle.

"Oh, okay… what is this place anyway?" he asked, curious about where he ended up. "This is Schicksal Headquarters #2, our base of operations after the 4th Honkai Eruption happened." she said. Another foreign word. Schicksal. The other words, however were once he recognized, and usually, they didn't mean anything good.

"Uhh…I don't understand any of those words. Can you please explain in more detail?" he asked her.

"I will explain in time. First, I want to check something." she said, her voice turning a little serious. Do you see the door at the end?" he nodded. "Can you head over there? This is very important, and could possibly be very dangerous for us." she said, as the boy started walking towards the door. It was then he noticed the reason behind her previous statement.

"Are those…tree trunks?" he asked, pointing at the pillars of wood that jutted out from the ground at random places. "It appears so. I wonder how this happened?" she said. After a minute of looking around, he noticed that everything was written in an unfamiliar language. "Anyway, you see the door in front of you? Just put out your hand. I'll take care of the rest." He did as instructed to him. A red glow appeared on his back and a weird feeling travelled from it, up to his outstretched palm. It felt like heat and cold at the same time.

His hand began to glow purple and the light began to get absorbed into the door. An inhuman voice was heard, similar to the one he heard before he fell down the hole. **"Honkai Energy…confirmed. Welcome."** came the voice and the door opened, revealing another massive room, almost the same size as the first one. This one clearly appeared to be divided into two.

The one on the left had several pedestals, where certain…weapons were floating? He wasn't sure what some of them were, but he noticed some swords, some gloves and the others were unfamiliar things.

On the other side, there were similar pedestals. However, there were certain gems were floating, not unlike the weapons. The gems had various colours, which probably had some significance.

"Oh, so that's what happened." came Mei's voice as he was broken from his thoughts. "At least the others and the God Keys are still safe." she said, confusing Naruto.

"I'm not sure what's supposed to be safe, but God Keys sound important." he said. "What are those gems by the way? They feel very familiar."

"Those are the other Herrscher cores. We gathered all that were intact and brought them here. They're still asleep, but very powerful even now. What I wanted to see was how my core was found." she explained in a very simple manner. Naruto is still a young child after all.

"You see that tree near the other gems, right?" she pointed out to him. "That is growing in the same place where my gem was kept. This means that nobody stole it from the base."

"Okay then. So, what now? How do I get out of here? The Hokage will be worried if I'm missing for too long." he asked.

"There is a way- "she started before suddenly stopping. Half of her face turned into the ominous violet of Hikari.

"**Tell me this, boy. Why do you want to go back there? We have seen your memories. How you are treated, and how little you actually care for the village now. Even your trust for the one you call 'Old Man' is wavering. So why go back?" **she asked.

"I…I'm still upset at the Hokage for keeping secrets about me. He may not have my trust, but he has my respect. He took me in and kept me safe in his own way. So, for what little he's done for me, I still respect him for it. As for the rest of the village, I have no ties to them, as you have stated. But I have nowhere else to go." he said

"In that case…why don't you stay here instead?" came Mei's voice. You can get back to the village relatively quickly in case something happens, and at the same time, stay away from the rest of the village with a safe place to hide." she said. Having seen his memories, what he required was a safe place to call home, and people he could fully trust. "We can also train you to become stronger." 'And control your new powers. We don't want a repeat of Nagazora.' she thought, while pushing away that memory.

"I…I don't know…" Naruto was at a loss for words. He was getting a safe haven _and_ a proper teacher? It sounded too good to be true.

"Don't worry about the Hokage if that is what you are concerned about. You can meet him whenever you wish." she said. The boy considered his options for a few minutes before giving his reply.

"Alright. I accept. But I want to get back before the Hokage notices that something is off." he said. "Glad to hear your response. Now, we need to get back. Go back to the room where you came from. Hopefully the exit didn't get sealed off for some reason." she said as they made their way out.

(Time skip)

Naruto was lying on his bed, in his soon-to-be-former apartment, thinking about the current situation. "Hey Mei-san? Can I ask a question?" he asked. "Go ahead, and if you want to talk to me, just say it in your head. You don't need to speak aloud." she replied.

"This…Herrscher word. What does it mean? I've never heard of it." he asked.

"Hmm…you're starting off with that? Alright then. You might find it difficult to understand now, but maybe when you're older, you'll understand better. Anyway, to begin with, you need to know about the Honkai first…"

Mei went on to explain about the Honkai, an unpredictable phenomenon that manifested itself in various ways. Be it wars, disease, or in the most common case, monsters known as Honkai Beasts. The objective of the Honkai as a whole was to cause extinction of various species and civilizations.

Herrschers, on the other hand, were messengers of the Honkai and had unimaginable power. They were initially human, with unusually high levels of Honkai resistance. However, after being exposed to a massive amount of Honkai energy, they begin to develop a Herrscher core, which becomes the source of their unnatural abilities. However, if they are not strong willed, then they become mentally corrupted by the Will of the Honkai, thus becoming harbingers of great destruction.

'Oh…in that case, I'm assuming that Hikari is a part of the Will of the Honkai?' he asked.

"Yes, she is. However, we have made peace with each other and learned to coexist." she said. **"Yeah…she kept on rejecting my whisperings…and after **_**that**_**, she definitely wanted to avoid hearing my voice again." **came Hikari's voice.

'Wait, what happened, Mei-san? What is Hikari talking about?' he asked. "I would…like to keep that private. Please ignore what Hikari said, Naruto." she said.

'Okay. So…what now? When will the training begin?' he asked, excited. This is the first time someone has offered to train him, so his mind was racing.

"I would like to start as soon as possible, but we can start anytime you wish. I'm not going to force your hand on this, since it's your body after all." she replied.

'Wait…I have an idea, but we can only work on it after meeting the Hokage tomorrow.' he said. 'Let's hope it works.' he thought as he drifted to sleep, drained after the day's events.

(The next day, Hokage's office)

"So…let me get this straight. You want me to build a house for you right outside the village?" said the old man, receiving a nod in response. "And please tell me why I should approve of it? It will be much safer for you inside the village, where it's more secure."

"Hokage-sama" said the boy in a serious tone, making the aged Hokage wince at the term. "The villagers who hate me for some odd reason throw stones and kunai into my apartment through the windows, shattering them. They vandalize the outside, and some even sneak inside when I'm asleep or away. I want to live in a place that nobody knows about."

"If that's the case, then why haven't you told me earlier? I could have increased the protection around your house, as well as tell the villagers to stay away." replied the Hokage. This was going to be harder than initially planned.

"Hokage-sama, no offense to your authority, but that's not going to stop them anyway, since they know where I live. So instead, I wish to live right outside the village, where I can come in whenever needed, while at the same time, not have to worry about being discovered." he replied, hoping that it would be enough to convince the man.

"Hmm…you make some good points. Alright then, I shall grant this request of yours." Naruto pumped his fist in victory. "However…" the Hokage was not finished. "You have to report to me at least once every day, just so I can confirm your safety." 'And hope that you don't leave the village out of nowhere.' he thought.

'What do you think? Is that fine, Mei-san?' he asked mentally, receiving an affirmative from the ex-Herrscher. "Okay Jiji, I accept your terms. Thank you for doing this." he said with a smile. The old man's eyes lit up. The boy had called him 'Jiji' again. Maybe he was given another chance to let himself into the boy's heart once more.

"So, have you decided a location? I can send some of my trusted ANBU and we can start the construction right away. If you're alright with a simple place, then we can finish it by tomorrow." said the Hokage.

"Is there a place next to a water body, like a river? I want access to clean water whenever I can." the boy requested, having just the spot in mind.

"Why, yes there is. Shall I take you there? Then we can find a place to start construction." said the Hokage. Naruto nodded in excitement and the two of them left the office to reach their destination…

(Time skip – 7 years later)

The now 15 year old Naruto yawned loudly, while rubbing his eyes as he got up from the floor that he was lying on. Looks like he had trained too hard last night and collapsed at some point.

'Mei-onee-san, are you there?' he asked, confirming the presence of his teacher for the past 7 years. Over the years, she had become not just his teacher, but a sister-figure to him as well. Alongside training in fighting, she had told him about the many stories of the past. Her experiences as a Valkyrie for Schicksal, and all of the friends that stood by her side. Speaking of them…

"Aww…come on Naruto-kun! You never ask for me! It's always Mei-senpai! I live here too, you know…" came another voice, one that had gained a presence in his mind for the past year.

'Sorry. It's an old habit.', he replied as he got up and walked towards another room, which was revealed to be a simple bathroom. Rubbing away the bleariness from his eyes, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. Now his hair had streaks of black with white tips, and had straightened out a bit. His eyes remained the same bright violet since he had absorbed the Gem of Conquest, so had the slight paleness of his skin.

"Mou, you always say that. I've been here for a year now, so you should have remembered by now!" said the voice in a childish manner.

Meanwhile, the boy freshened up and put on a black, long sleeved, skin tight suit. Pressing a button on its arm, a yellow glow engulfed him as his attire changed. He was wearing a long-sleeved white coat that reached up to his waist, with the sleeves tucked into elbow-length gloves. There were 2 rows of buttons along the middle, which held onto a small cape by means of 2 pieces of yellow rope. Knee-length shorts and shin-length black socks protected his legs. Small pouches were attached to the socks by small belts.

"No matter how many times I say it, it feels good to see the St. Freya uniform again…I bet Mei-senpai taught you how to make it." came the voice, with a reminiscent tone.

'She sure did.' he replied as he got onto a platform on another end of the base. A beeping sound was heard, as the platform started moving upwards. He found the familiar hum of the elevator soothing, a great way to start the morning. 'In fact, I don't think either of us told you this, but we decided to recreate this, since she knew of your attachment to it. She said that you liked it so much, you decided to make it your Valkyrie Battlesuit.' he said.

"Aww, so thoughtful of her. As expected of Mei-senpai." came the reply. "Anyway, we're almost here, so I'll go to sleep now. Good luck for your graduation today!" they said, as the elevator came to a halt, revealing a small room, with a single light in it.

"Thank you…Kiana-san…"

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I decided to add a little twist with Mei and her Herrscher core. Hopefully I didn't mess it up.

Same as last time, Reviews would be appreciated, Constructive criticism will be accepted, Flames will be ignored. Questions can be asked in the reviews, so feel free to ask.

Like I mentioned last time, please let me know if the quality of writing has declined since the last chapter. That way, I'll see if there's a way I can improve the next one.

Thanks for reading this chapter!

DelTheAUO, Out.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello there, DelTheAUO here!

Happy New Year to all you readers…although it's the 10th. Let this be the start of beginnings for my fellow readers and writers. More motivation for writers, more content for readers! (a little motivation for readers to write wouldn't hurt though…)

Anyway, let's continue with this story!

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"So…today is finally the day of your graduation exam. How do you feel? You've almost become a ninja for this village." came Mei's voice as Naruto made his way to the academy, while ignoring the looks that he was receiving. Both towards himself, as well as his unusual clothing.

'I don't feel any different. I chose to become a ninja out of respect for the old man and all he has done for me. It's a path for me to protect the ones who I care about. Do I feel the obligation to put the rest of the village over my own personal goals? Of course not. Why should I give up my life for people who would rather want me dead? I would only give them protection if there is another Honkai Eruption…although that seems very unlikely after what Kiana-san did…' he replied.

"Fair enough. I'll stay out of your head now. Don't hesitate to call if needed." said Mei as she cut the link between them. Noticing the academy in sight, the boy couldn't help but smirk a bit. His position in the academy was just as he planned, and today was the last day he would have to deal with the academy staff, all of whom had something against him. They showed it by simply ignoring him, or by attempting to sabotage his 'training'.

Making his way into the classroom he was assigned to, he walked all the way to the back, where he saw an empty seat. Truth be told, he rarely interacted with his classmates, since most of their parents told them to stay away from him. Honestly, he didn't mind that. The fewer people that he interacted with, the better it was for him.

He put his head down and began analysing the people around him. The only ones noteworthy to him were the clan heirs. The others were not worth his time…at least, as far as combat prowess was concerned. But then again, in this world of kill or be killed, your combat skills mattered more than knowing the identity of the founder of this village was. Unfortunately, the academy seemed to have prioritized the latter, resulting in numerous civilians applying to be a ninja, completely clueless of the world they were about to enter.

(AN: I'm not including character descriptions, since I'm pretty sure you know all of them.)

A few moments later, the two instructors came in and began to maintain silence in the room. One of them stepped forward. "Alright class, today is the day of your graduation exam. I hope that you have all studied well for this day!" said the instructor, and judging from his flak jacket, a chuunin level ninja.

"Yes Iruka-sensei!" yelled the enthusiastic civilian students, while the clan students kept silent. "Okay. The first part is the written test, so maintain a gap between each other. Mizuki, come here and take this half." said Iruka, while motioning towards Mizuki to come over.

After receiving his paper, he detected a disturbance on his paper, and noticed Mizuki's faint smirk. Taking this as a sign, his pupils turned into slits and saw a blue layer over the paper. Sighing at the poor attempt at Genjutsu, Naruto returned his eyes to normal and devoured the chakra using a small layer of Honkai energy on his finger. Revealing the real questions, he was about to answer them, before he got an idea as he noticed the instructors supervising the students. Pointing a finger at Mizuki, a small bolt of violet lightning shot out with…uhh…lightning-fast speed and struck the Chuunin's rear end, causing him to jump up in pain. The entire class burst into laughter, until a glare from Iruka silenced them. Satisfied with the result, he began to write.

(A few hours later)

"The next part of your exam is the Taijutsu test. You will be made to fight each other tournament-style. We have the matchups right here, so we will call them out. First, we have…" Iruka went on, as the civilian students were pitted against each other first, while being evaluated. The clan heirs dominated the entire exam, with the exception of Ino Yamanaka, who looked like she had barely done any training in her life. Eventually, it ended up being a battle of the clan heirs against each other.

"Next up, Inuzuka Kiba and Uzumaki Naruto! Take your positions!" yelled Iruka, as both boys stepped forward and took their stances. Kiba was in a crouched position, as he intended to pounce on his opponent, whereas Naruto took his own stance, which confused a lot of people. His left foot was placed forward, knees bent, with his right hand in a fist at his side and his left hand in a fist right in front of him. It was an unusual stance that none of the people there recognized, even the teachers, but they brushed it aside.

"Heh, ready to lose?" said Kiba with an arrogant grin. Naruto was about to give tell him to keep quiet, but Iruka beat him to it. "Kiba, in a real battle, nobody will care about how 'strong' you are. I suggest you keep quiet." he ordered, making the boy lose his grin. "Ugh…fine." he groaned as he focused on the battle.

"Are you both ready? Then begin!" said Iruka as Kiba lunged at Naruto with fist outstretched, intent on delivering a punch. While the civilians might not have reacted in time, he was too slow as Naruto evaded every single one of Kiba's attacks with no problem. Eventually, he got bored and made his move. Controlling his strength, he landed three quick punches on Kiba's chest, and leapt into the air when the boy was dazed from the strikes. He then planted his outstretched fist on the boy's back, planting him face first into the ground.

'Good. I think I got the form down.' he thought as he returned to his original stance, recollecting a memory.

(Flashback)

'It should be here right?' asked a 10-year-old Naruto as he walked through another door. Honestly, with a base this big, it was a surprise that it was kept hidden for so long. But he wasn't here to question such things.

"Yes…we have arrived." said Mei as the room lit up, revealing numerous books, and what appeared to be…cubes and sheets of metal? Probably some strange technology from the past that he was starting to get used to.

"In the same condition as we built it. Good to see this base hold its structure so well. Now, go where I direct you." commanded Mei as she led Naruto through the immense library, until they reached a stand, with a single cube on it.

"Now you see there is a circle on top of the cube, right? I want you to tap it. Then we can finally begin." she said. Doing as instructed, Naruto noticed a white light engulfing him as he lost consciousness.

(Unknown location)

Opening his eyes, he took in the incredible scenery in front of him. A vast array of greenery filled his vision, tall trees surrounded the clearing in front of him, with a mountain being visible in the distance. The sound of running water and chirping birds filled his ears, giving a very pleasant sense of tranquillity.

"Beautiful, isn't it? Everyone who has visited Mount Tai Xuan had the same expression." came a voice behind him. Turning around to face the stranger, he took in their features. Long white hair with streaks of red tied in a loose ponytail, bright red eyes that felt like the embodiment of fire itself, long red gloves with a bright green gem embedded in it, and a white battle dress, with flame patterns and armor on the right shoulder and four red 'tails', reminiscent of the tail feathers of a bird.

"I didn't mean to disturb you. Take it in. It will help clear your mind." she said, as she sat down next to him and closed her eyes, while maintaining a constant breathing rate. The pair stayed in silence for a few minutes before standing up.

"I see that this device that Mei created manage to successfully imitate the abilities of Fenghuang Down. Impressive." said the unknown person.

"It sure did, Fu Hua." came Mei's voice as Mei and Hikari walked into the clearing. "Wow, this place is just as beautiful as the last time" said Mei, remembering the first time this device was tested.

"Mei! What are you doing inside this boy's mind? And what is your Herrscher core doing here as well?" asked the now named Fu Hua with a serious tone and taking a stance. Fenghuang Down brought the mind of the one it was used on into a dream world. And as far as she knew, only the one who activated the device can have their mind brought here. The Herrscher core worried her as well, even though she knew that her former classmate had formed a partnership with it.

"Uhh…it's a long story." said Mei, while motioning Fu Hua to stand down. "Want the full story or a summarized one?"

"We have time. There is no resistance from his mind after all." said the immortal, as she entered a more relaxed position. Mei then began to tell her the entire incident, meanwhile Hikari was dashing around the area in a violet streak, analyzing the layout of the area.

"I see…so that's why you want him to be trained." said Fu Hua, with a thoughtful expression. It was then replaced by a determined look. "Okay. I will do it, since you see the potential in him." Both of them smiled and took a glance at the boy, who was still seated in the same position, savouring the clean atmosphere of the area.

"Naruto! Come here!" called out Mei, as he was broken from his trance and quickly ran up to them. "This is Fu Hua. She will be teaching you the art known as the Six Fists, a very powerful martial art from our time that she elevated to an entirely different level. Make sure you take in her teachings okay?" He nodded in response.

"Good, in that case, we shall leave you alone." She said, as both she and Hikari vanished from the area, leaving the boy and his new sensei behind, in order to begin their first lesson…

(Present)

"W-Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" stuttered Iruka, with wide eyes at the display of the boy's skill. The way he evaded Kiba's attacks and that final attack that knocked the other boy face first into the ground…that was definitely something new.

"Uhh…Kiba? You can get up now." he said as he tapped Kiba's back, in order to make him get up, but received no response. Turning the boy over, he saw that the boy had been knocked unconscious. He called some of the other students, and told them to take him to the Academy Infirmary.

Meanwhile, Naruto scratched his head 'Damn, looks like I used too much force, even though I held back. Now I have a lot of attention on me.' he sighed and noticed all the stares from the other students. Ignoring them, he went to a nearby tree and sat underneath it in a lotus position, taking deep breaths and calming his mind, which was a basic exercise in his Six Fists training. While the air in Konoha was clean enough, it would never compare to the sense of absolute tranquillity of Mount Tai Xuan.

(An hour later)

After his fight, it was just a matter of time before all the clan heirs, who had received specialized training to become actual shinobi, had wiped out all the civilians in the tournament. Out of these clan heirs, only two of them actually had proper skill in Taijutsu. One was the Hyuuga heiress, whose clan specialized in their very particular Taijutsu style, while the other was the Uchiha heir, who had been training in his own style. There was the Inuzuka heir too, but…well, he was out already.

Unfortunately, he couldn't fight the Hyuuga heiress, because the tournament separated students by their genders. He didn't understand the logic behind that. That girl could easily defeat some male clan heirs, such as the Nara, who was too lazy. The Akimichi, since he relied too much on his body weight and brute force. The Aburame, who hailed from a clan that wasn't very specialized in Taijutsu. Unfortunately, the girl was starting to lose the kindness and the gentle nature that she once had. A shame really, since she was being moulded forcibly by her clan to maintain their image, and that interfering in clan matters could result in poor consequences for him.

Eventually, the final battle of his side of the tournament had arrived. It was him versus the Uchiha heir. Both of them took their places on the field, with a fair amount of distance between them. Facing each other, the Uchiha had a smirk on his face, anticipating the battle.

'Hmm, I do not trust him to stick to Taijutsu. He might pull a dirty move from somewhere such as kunai or maybe a jutsu. And knowing how the village treats him, he might be able to get away with it. I'll have to be ready at any moment.'

"Uzumaki Naruto vs Uchiha Sasuke, begin!" declared Iruka as Sasuke rushed at his opponent with a punch, which was easily blocked by the blond boy's hand, with the glove taking the brunt of the damage. He quickly responded to the defensive move with a kick with his left leg, only to be responded with a defensive kick of Naruto's own.

'Now, keep on attacking. Let's test how you can handle a battle of attrition.' thought Naruto with a feeling of superiority. Looks like Hikari had rubbed off more than he thought.

As expected, Sasuke could only last so long while attacking before getting exhausted, with sweat dripping intensely and breathing very heavily. His opponent, meanwhile had been standing there, parrying his attacks with quick strikes to the right places at the right moments, completely negating any damage inflicted upon him. In fact, the only sign of any disturbance was the signs of dust on those gloves of his.

"Tired already?" asked the young Herrscher with a bored tone, as he got into a more relaxed stance as compared to his original one. Not showing any signs of direct aggression, but willing to strike at a moment's notice.

"You…*pant*…you wish I was, Dobe…" wheezed out his opponent, gasping for air, while wondering how he was not exhausted from the fight. Rushing at the blond with all the speed that he could, he cocked his fist back for a punch, but was interrupted by a palm strike to his chest, which was enough to knock him to the ground, too tired to move.

Deciding that the boy would not get up anytime soon, Iruka decided it was time to end this fight. As he stepped in, Sasuke saw the look in his opponent's eyes. Those eyes that were the colour of bright amethysts. He could feel them digging into him, solidifying his existence as the weaker one between the two. His pride and arrogance weren't going to let him have any of it. Mustering all of his strength and chakra into a familiar pattern he managed to get himself up and made some hand signs.

"Sasuke? You're up? It's alright, you don't have to… No, stop!" started off Iruka, until he recognized those hand signs.

"**Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!"** shouted the boy, with all his strength as he released a moderately sized fireball at his opponent, who had noticed the attack as well. As the fireball made contact, it kicked up a pile of dust that surrounded the impact point.

"Naruto!" Yelled Iruka, as he looked for the boy. Unlike most of the teachers who had a dislike for the boy, this teacher was indifferent to him and treated him just like any other student. So, in this case, seeing a fireball swallow up one of his students was definitely a matter of concern.

As the dust started to clear, wisps of flame could be seen flickering around the impact point. Once it had completely cleared, to everyone's shock, the ex-Jinchuuriki was completely unharmed, with the exception of a slightly burned cape. What caught the attention of everyone was the fact that he was dispersing away the flame with his hands, which had some strange new gloves…or rather, gauntlets on them. They were elbow length, with a black underside and the top being made of accents of orange and white. The part near the elbows had 3 red spikes with black tips on them. Now that they had achieved that purpose, they dispersed in a flash of light.

"Na-Naruto, are you alright?" asked Iruka in concern, completely ignoring those gauntlets that he witnessed earlier. The boy looked at the now collapsed Sasuke, who was completely surrounded by his fangirls, worrying about him and making dirty glances at the perfectly fine 'Dobe'.

"I'm alright sensei. The test is over, now right?" he replied, ready to leave the place. He didn't want to deal with the fangirls any longer. "Yes, it is. The jutsu test will be in 2 hours, so you can go wherever you wish, but be back here by then." replied the Chuunin instructor.

"Alright then. I'll see you later." he said, as he left the field.

(Time skip)

Walking out with the Konoha headband in his hand, he completely ignored the looks of fear and whispers by the parents of the other academy students.

"They let _him_ graduate?"

"What is Hokage-sama thinking?"

"Now _it_ will get access to more power…"

Naruto, meanwhile was speaking to Mei and Kiana mentally. 'And then, I don't know what possessed him to do it, but he used a fireball jutsu during the Taijutsu test. I'm surprised that they didn't disqualify him for it.'

"**Chances are, that they brushed it under the rug. Those pathetic fangirls and villagers would do anything for their Oh-so-precious Uchiha after all. That pathetic worm's arrogance took over his ability to think." **Said Hikari, to receive a bonk on the head from Kiana.

"Hikari, don't be rude. But yes, he is spoiled by the villagers, which in turn strokes his ego…and the extent of the damage is too much." she said. She could somewhat relate, after the numerous stories her father had told about the Kaslana being a very powerful warrior family. She had developed that superiority complex about her inheriting the same power, and that she was on a higher level than her peers. That was until Himeko, bless her soul, had beaten it out of her.

'Precisely. Anyway, back to what happened, I guess it was a good thing I'm allowed access to the mass-produced weapons in the base. The CAS-X really did a good job there.' he thought…until he paused in his thoughts. 'Wait…now that I've graduated, can I…'

"I know what you want, and yes you can." Kiana said with a grin, causing the new Herrscher to cheer mentally, only to be interrupted. "Only after you get some practice with them. Soulium weapons and the more advanced ones in the base are not your typical weapons that you're used to." came the teacher-like voice of Mei.

'Okay, I got it.' he mentally said. "Now, about the third test…" inquired Kiana, curious as to what happened.

'Oh, nothing special. They asked for the basic academy three. There was a weird disturbance during the test though, like someone tried to actively disrupt my Chakra control by injecting their own Chakra into my system, but I was able to burn it off with Honkai energy. The only jutsu that would usually be a problem is the Bunshin. Good thing we saw that Jonin practice that Kage Bunshin Jutsu right?' he said with a chuckle, receiving a similar one from his residents.

'What's funnier is that they didn't even notice the difference. It was- 'he was interrupted as he saw Mizuki approach him with a smile. 'Wait, what's he doing here? I thought I was done with him forever.'

"Hey Naruto! Congrats on your graduation! I knew you could pull it off" he said, while his thoughts were…more sinister 'Damn it! The Genjutsu plan failed, the Taijutsu matchups failed, and the jutsu test failed! This is my last chance!'

"Thanks sensei, now why have you come here?" the newly graduated shinobi replied, with a serious look on his face.

"Now, now, can't a sensei come congratulate his student? It's- "the silver haired man was interrupted by a kunai at his throat.

"If you wanted to say something, you could have done so inside. Why now? Why away from the academy?" he replied, the kunai not moving at all.

"Okay fine, I'll tell. Just, please move the kunai." he said in apparent defeat. The kunai did not move. "Tell me first, then I'll move it." said the blond boy. Knowing he had no way out of this he spoke.

"I know of a secret test that will directly promote you to Chuunin. I thought you would be interested, seeing as you want to become Hokage after all." Oh yes. That. He had been stating that he wanted to be Hokage just to avert the eyes of suspicion towards his loyalty. Looks like it was working against him this time.

"**See what this 'test' is about. If it benefits us, take it and then kill him if it comes down to it. If it doesn't, then find a way to kill him anyway. I'm really starting to hate this guy. He feels like some humans of our civilization. Corrupted to the core." **said Hikari with a voice filled with disgust.

'Honestly, I'm in agreement. Maybe not kill, but some maiming wouldn't hurt now would it?' he said with a similar sadistic voice, making Hikari release a chuckle. Kiana sighed." We need to limit your contact with Hikari from now on." she said, making Hikari pout.

'C'mon Kiana-san, Hikari-nee is not that bad.' he said, as he brought his attention back to the Chuunin instructor and gave him a smirk.

"So…what do I have to do?"

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Longest chapter until now!

Review Please! Positive feedback is very much welcome, constructive criticism will be accepted, but flames will be ignored.

I reply to questions in PMs, so if you want to ask anything, feel free to ask under the reviews.

As usual, please let me know if the quality of writing has declined since the last chapter. That way, I'll see if there's a way I can improve the next one.

Thanks for reading this chapter!

DelTheAUO, Out.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello there, DelTheAUO here!

It's been a while (a month to be exact, unfortunately), college got a little hectic, but I managed to pull this out before it took way too long.

Anyway, let's continue with this story!

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'Still can't believe it was that easy to get this scroll. Either Mizuki did some really good research and had this planned for months in advance, or the security in this village is extremely lacking.' thought Naruto as he ran through the trees and arrived at the clearing where he was instructed to go.

'Alright. Now that we're here, let's see what's in this scroll… Kage Bunshin? That thing is a forbidden jutsu? Strange. That Jounin I saw used it pretty often. And he wasn't trying to hide it either.' he thought and began to read through the scroll, only to get another idea.

Making a cross hand seal, a Kage Bunshin puffed into existence. Remembering the reason of its existence, it took the scroll and ran off somewhere. Meanwhile, the real Naruto summoned another Kage Bunshin that transformed into the scroll.

'And now, we wait.' he thought as he took the fake scroll with him and sat under a tree, awaiting the arrival of the one who assigned him this task.

(About an hour later)

'Okay. How has nobody found me yet? This is about a scroll that has all of this village's secret techniques and literally nobody is bothered? That Old Man should have the entire village looking for the damn thing!' thought our resident Herrscher in irritation.

"Maybe he hasn't noticed that the scroll is missing? After all, you were very thorough with how you took it in the first place. You avoided leaving any traces of your presence there. Although I must admit, the security for one of the village's prized possessions is very lax. The response to it being stolen is even worse." said Mei, as she gave her own observations on this situation.

'I know right? I wonder if- 'he began before he stopped. 'Someone's coming.' he thought as he cut the connection. After a few seconds, the figure of Iruka was revealed.

"Oh, you're finally here. Good. Just take this damn scroll and end the test already." He said, as he picked up the fake scroll and began to walk towards the Chuunin.

"Naruto, you idiot! What made you think that steal- wait, did you say test?" asked Iruka, who's expression went from one of anger to confusion.

"Yeah, I did. Now that you found me, let's go- "he said as he was interrupted by a small whistle of flying projectiles, that flew towards them. Having noticed Iruka simply standing there with that confused expression, Naruto pushed him out of the way, although, the Chuunin hit a tree nearby and suffered a blow to the head, making his senses less efficient. Before he could regain his bearings, two kunai flew from the trees and into the instructor's chest, although not too deeply. The chuunin flak jacket had protected him from a lethal hit.

"Good. You found it. Now hand it over Naruto and you pass the test." said Mizuki as he jumped into the clearing. Iruka, having connected the dots, widened his eyes in realization and tried to move. However, he was losing too much blood and, combined with the head injury, was losing consciousness.

"Naruto…don't…he's…" he barely managed to say before coughing out blood. After looking back at Iruka, he took a few steps away from Mizuki, preparing to run.

'Damnit, he's trying to escape. From the few times I've seen him run, he's extremely fast. I need to do something now.' thought Mizuki in panic. Iruka's intervention had ruined everything. It was supposed to be a quick handover but Iruka had beaten him to it.

"Naruto, hand over the scroll quickly. I'll tell you a secret that your classmates don't know…it's about why people hate you." he said, causing both of Iruka's and Naruto's eyes to widen, with the latter putting up an act.

"Why…they hate me?" asked the boy, with a voice that clearly indicated interest. Iruka, sensing what was about to happen, tried to convince his old friend to keep that secret to himself.

"Don't…please…" were his words before he lost consciousness. Ignoring the incapacitation of his comrade, he focused his attention towards his target.

"Yes. Remember what happened 15 years ago? The Kyuubi attack?" receiving a nod in response. "Well, what you don't know is that the Fourth Hokage didn't kill the Kyuubi. He used a jutsu to- "

"Seal it into me? Yeah. I know. Anything new?" he finished, with a bored expression on his face. Mizuki was shocked. How did he know? "How do you- "

"How did I know? Obvious signs. I was born on the day of the Kyuubi attack. I was born with very unusual marks on my face. And it's not like I couldn't hear the whispers. Do you really think I'm that stupid?" he replied, making Mizuki panic mentally. His plan had failed, so there was only one option left.

Reaching for the giant shuriken on his back, he bent his knees, ready to jump. "In that case…. DIE KYUUBI!" he screamed, as he flung the shuriken at the boy. Mizuki smirked as the weapon whistled through the air towards his target, awaiting the squelching sound and the spray of blood, but was shocked to see the shuriken being sliced in half by a flash of yellow.

The two halves of the shuriken changed direction and impacted two trees behind him. As Mizuki focused his vision, he saw a simple katana…or at least, it would be simple if the blade wasn't glowing a bright yellow.

"You know, the Kyuubi isn't so bad." said the boy as he tapped a small metal circle on his arm. His Battlesuit began to glow for a moment, and revealed itself to be something entirely different.

This new Battlesuit consisted of a black, sleeveless, high collared, top that nearly covered his mouth, with an armoured…skirt-like thing. Black finger-less gloves encased by red armor adorned his arms. Various plates of armor and other straps covered small parts of his legs, with shin length boots, which had wing-like protrusions at the heel. There was nothing covering his back, which revealed a faint red glowing on his back. A flowing red scarf was wrapped around his neck, with the trailing edge appearing to fade like bright Sakura petals. To finish the look, there was a black, fox like mask was placed on the side of his head.

A duplicate of the sword in his right hand appeared in his left and held both in a reverse grip. Taking further notice of the attire, Mizuki couldn't help but smirk.

"So, dressing like a woman makes you think you can defeat me? Think again!" he mocked, as he charged toward his oddly-dressed opponent with a kunai held in his right hand, ready for a stab, who was…suddenly not there. Suddenly, he felt a burning sensation in the hand with the kunai, and immediately let it go. Taking a closer look at the source of pain, he saw a portion of cauterized flesh, surrounded by his burnt shirt.

"You didn't let me finish." Came the voice of the boy from behind him, grabbing his attention. While initially against the idea of wearing the Valkyries' Battlesuits, he had the shame of wearing women's attire beaten out of him by his instructors. In a fight, what you wear doesn't matter, so long as it is an asset, and not a hindrance. Moreover, modifying some of the Valkyries' Battlesuits to fit his needs would be very tedious, since that technology is not very easily replicated in this world of Chakra. Not even with a Herrscher core, or the knowledge of ex-Valkyries and Schicksal engineers that he had access to.

"As I said, the Kyuubi isn't so bad…want to meet him?" he said, enjoying the look of fear on Mizuki's face. "He has a name though, so remember that, will you?"

Raising his hand, he shouted two, very simple words.

"**Come, Raigokumaru!"**

In a flash of lightning, a new, very distinctly non-human entity appeared. It was about as tall as the height of the ground to half the height of the trees that surrounded them. It was a very dark shade of violet, nearing black, and had sparks emitting from it, indicating it was a lightning beast. But as it was implied, it had the form a fox, with multiple tails.

"**You called, young Master?"** came the extremely deep voice of the lightning-fox, which indicated that it held power way beyond what its current appearance indicated.

"He is a traitor. Mark him." He said simply. Acknowledging the instruction, the fox slammed a tail at the shell-shocked Mizuki, who couldn't comprehend the fact that this…academy student could summon the actual Kyuubi. And the thing called him _master_ for crying out loud!

After being slammed through a few trees, he barely got up, and tried to muster all his strength to run, scroll be damned. After all, self-preservation of one's own life was human nature. He was stopped before he could run by a firm grip on his shoulder.

"Now, Now. You've been marked already." came Naruto's voice as he poked a mark on his body that was not there before. It primarily appeared as three tomoe, yet, looked oddly different.

"Time for the end." he declared as he jumped back and got into a stance, ready for attack. Bent knees, and his swords in the reverse grip from before. His eyes and the mark glowed together as he dashed in a blur.

The next thing Mizuki saw were three flashes of violet light, similar to a trail as they passed him in different directions, as he was simultaneously lifted into the air.

"Gedo Roppa...kai!" declared Naruto, and slammed into the ground. A burst of lightning erupted from the ground, in a similar pattern to the mark. No scream came from the traitor, who was now badly paralyzed and burned in places, courtesy of the lightning-based attacks used against him.

Dismissing his Battlesuit and donning his original uniform, he picked up the now paralyzed Mizuki, and walked back to Iruka's location, where he was greeted by a handful of ANBU.

"Leave the traitor with us. The Hokage has summoned you." They simply stated as Naruto picked up the (real) scroll and went to the Hokage's office. The clone that he had summoned back then had long-since, achieved its purpose and dismissed itself.

(About an hour later - In the Hokage's office)

"You know, for something this important, I expected you to be a part of the search team as well. Unless you were simply testing them." said Naruto, as he leaned into his seat, with a tone that leaked of disappointment.

"It is the latter in fact. Such a shame, to be honest. A Chuunin found you before the trained 'elites' could? A shame really." said Hiruzen as he lit his pipe.

Taking a puff from the pipe, he decided to get straight to the point. "Since when- "he began, but was promptly interrupted.

"Since when did I know, or when could I summon? Your question will depend whether I give you an answer or not." said the boy. If this was to happen, it would happen on his terms alone. He wasn't going to let the Hokage attempt to interfere anymore.

"Since when could you summon it?" came the question. The answer was straight to the point.

"I am entitled to my own secrets." he replied.

"This is a matter of village security. I cannot be left in the dark about this. If someone finds out- "

"There are a few things that I know you are keeping from me. Such as the identity of my parents. I am willing to offer an exchange of information. You tell me some of your secrets that concern me, and I will give some of the information that you want." he replied with a firm tone. Looks like taking those special lessons on negotiations were coming in handy. Mei's experience was invaluable in these situations.

After having a small clash of wills through their individual gazes, Hiruzen realized that this would take him nowhere. Taking a deep puff of his pipe, Hiruzen leaned back in defeat.

"I'm sorry, but you are not ready yet." he replied. Looks like the exchange wouldn't happen. Taking the response, Naruto stood up from his seat.

"In that case, you aren't ready yet either. If that will be all, Hokage-sama, I will take my leave." he said, as he made his way towards the door.

"Wait Naruto!" said the Hokage, stopping the boy in his tracks. "I…just want you to answer this one question honestly. I am not expecting something an answer that pleases me. Just an honest one. What do you think of this village…and the people?"

"The village? It began with good intentions. Two great rival clans uniting to act a means to end all war. To act as a ray of peace in the dark, war-driven world. Now, it is just a hotspot for civilians to hold more power over the damn ninja who are supposed to run the place." Hiruzen winced at this. It had become apparent to him that the civilian council had been gaining more power by the day, but for this detail to be slammed straight in his face still hurt a little.

"As for the people? No love for them. Couldn't care about what happens to them at all, save a few of them. You're lucky to be one of those few. Good night." he said, and walked out of the door. Leaving a slightly touched Hiruzen. At least the boy hadn't cut all ties with him. He took this as a new beginning to start repairing the bonds with him.

(Time skip-a few weeks later)

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP! YOU ARE ALL BEING ASSIGNED TEAMS TODAY AND THIS IS HOW YOU ACT? I SHOULD SEND YOU BACK TO THE BEGINNING RIGHT NOW!" yelled a now mostly healthy Iruka, while using the notorious Big-Head Jutsu, making the entire class quiet down, and completely forgetting about the reason for the ruckus.

Said ruckus was our protagonist, who appeared a little more different than usual. The dark streaks in his hair had grown exponentially, and was long enough to be put into a short ponytail by a circular ring. His new change in attire was very drastic however, now consisting of a white top, which appeared to be similar to a short dress like garment. The part above his chest and upper back was completely exposed, along with the shoulders, with the exception of four black strips of fabric, that connected to a circular ring around his neck. the rest of his arms were encased in a slightly baggy covering, with the wrists encased in indigo cuffs. Several violet lines spread across the top in an unusual (to the students) pattern. Covering the bottom however, were a pair of _very short _black shorts. He wore thigh length socks, which had a black gradient to them, and ended with a set of violet pouches.

Two things caused the chaos.

1\. The fangirls screaming because there was a new girl that was sitting next to Sasuke before them.

2\. Said 'girl', actually being Naruto.

Looks like the natural inheritance of slightly feminine facial features, and having the imprint of a former Herrscher showed itself in…unusual ways. Not that it mattered to him of course.

After getting the class under control, he too noticed the new 'girl' in the class. Before he could question 'her' identity, 'she' simply gave a small smile and motioned for him to carry on.

"Alright class, today you are no longer my students. Instead, a Jounin sensei will be in charge of your respective teams, so my advice to you is to absorb their teachings like a sponge, as they are much more experienced than you, or even me for that matter. Remember to get along with your teammates…." Iruka went on with his graduation speech, but most of the graduates were more interested in their future placements to pay attention.

"Okay, with that out of the way, I have your teams right here. Your Jounin sensei will come to pick you up after lunch. Now Team 1- "

(Time skip)

It had been 4 hours.

4 hours since they returned to the classroom. All the other Jounin had picked up their students and headed off. However, their own Jounin was yet to make an appearance.

"Argh! Where is he?! It's been 4 hours and he still hasn't come!" came the irritated screech of a certain pink haired fangirl, which offended the eardrums of the other two people in the room.

The resident broody avenger tried to ignore the complaint while thinking of two things. How to kill his traitor of a brother, and his evaluation of the third member of their team, who was sitting at the back of the classroom, while examining a simple white katana…or at least that's what it looked like. Recollecting their fight, he remembered the way his opponent moved, the sheer damage that he caused with a simple strike. It was extremely similar to the Hyuuga's Jyuken. But there was no way that the Hyuuga would let their secrets be leaked outside the clan.

Then there were those gauntlets that he had pulled out near the end. The one that stopped the fireball. Now he had decided that those will be his someday. By words, or by force…

Meanwhile, our protagonist was examining his blade, while having a mental conversation. 'You still haven't told me why this weapon is suited for this Battlesuit. Come to think of it, I don't really know much about this Battlesuit, since this is my first official A rank Battlesuit.'

"**I should have probably started with that before giving you the Battlesuit. Anyway, it doesn't look like your Jounin is coming soon, so I can explain a bit." **began Mei. **"This Battlesuit is an Augmented Combat Raiment, and was not developed originally by Schicksal. Its name is Striker Fulminata, named after the numerous Fulminare cores utilized to create this. This was one of the primary reasons I advised you to use it as it is, and not modify it. We cannot afford to tamper with the cores that are there in this." **she paused, in order to let her student, take in the information.

"**Now, this Battlesuit is meant for delivering multiple quick strikes in succession. It is not meant for damage, but more so for speed. And this is where the weapon comes in. The 3****rd**** Sacred Relic. That is all I will tell you for now. Battle will teach you more." **she said, making Naruto mentally sigh. His teacher never gave him the full details about everything, but that was alright with him. He didn't want to be given everything, or else he be over reliant on Mei for each and every situation, which wouldn't help him in the long run.

He was broken out of the conversation by the shrill voice of his new teammate. 'I still can't believe that someone like her managed to pass the tests. Also, I'm still confused as to how we're in the same team. My target was the middle of the class, so that I wouldn't be put with these two. And if I recalled correctly, I had reached that mark.'

"**Maybe the Hokage pulled some strings? If he's anything like that damn Overseer, I know he would…" **Kiana began ranting, as she recalled certain…unpleasant memories.

"**You might have a point about him pulling some strings, but I can tell he isn't anything like **_**that man**_**."** said Mei, assuring Kiana that they didn't have another immortality-seeking madman as their superior…

(Meanwhile, in the depths of Otogakure)

A certain Snake Sannin sneezed rather violently, causing him to spill the liquid medicine he was drinking all over him. Cursing at the foul smell of the medicine that Kabuto had made, he went off to change into cleaner clothes, while plotting as to who his next body should be…

(Back to the classroom)

'Anyway, we can't do anything about it. I'll just have to tolerate these two for as long as needed. Unless they do something incredibly stupid. In that case, I could apply for a change of team.' he said. 'As for the Jounin, I have only the information that the Bingo book has on him. Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan eye, the man who knows a thousand Jutsu… he's qualified for sure, and he was most likely selected to train the Uchiha in using his eyes. His attitude leaves much to be desired however…'

"**I agree. This level of tardiness is unacceptable. It's either a regular habit for him, he doesn't think very highly of you three, or it's a test of patience."**

'It could be…the others don't seem very patient though. The Uchiha is not outright showing it, but his fists are clenched a little too tightly. As for the pinky…need I say more?'

He would have continued the discussion, had the door not opened, revealing the man who would be guiding them in the ninja art for the coming year at least. He wore the standard Jounin attire, but with a face mask that covered the lower half of his face. How he was able to breathe normally under it would always be a mystery to many people.

"So…you're supposed to be my new team huh." said the man in a voice that lacked any enthusiasm. "I was informed that my team would be consisting of two boys and a girl. Not two girls."

Sakura, having forgotten all about their commanding officer's tardiness corrected him. "Sensei, that girlish looking boy is Naruto-Baka!" she said, while pointing at the boy, who was looking at the new arrival, analyzing him from head to toe.

"Hmm…so a crossdresser who looks like a girl, an emo kid who needs to get out more, and a fangirl who blows out your eardrums. What joy." he said sarcastically. "Meet me at training ground 7." he ordered and vanished in a Shunshin.

Putting his sword into the horizontal sheath on his lower back, Naruto got up from his seat and went outside, leaving his teammates in the room. As soon as he was out of sight, he sped off in a streak of violet lightning. By the time the other two had left the room, he was long gone. Putting his shock at his peer's speed aside, Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and walked off, as Sakura followed him like a lost puppy.

(At the training ground)

Kakashi was nonchalantly reading his book, while thinking about the team he was assigned. The Last Uchiha in the village? Most likely to train his eyes. The fangirl? Apparently, a top student, however her attitude stated otherwise. And the last one…was an unknown, well, except for the fact that he was the Jinchuuriki. For what reason he was assigned to this team, the Copy-ninja would never know. Placed in the middle of the class, which completely went against tradition, yet a lot more than what he showed, seeing as he was the first to get there, and only a few minutes after he himself had arrived.

"Your teammates seem awfully slow huh." said Kakashi, attempting to strike a conversation, possibly get to know some more information. After all, he had a brief idea of how he was treated as a Jinchuuriki.

"Seems so." was the simple reply. 'Not much of a talker. Worth a try at least.' he thought, and noticed the small book that was in the young Genin's hand. "Oh? What book are you reading, if you don't mind me asking? I read too." he said, showing the book in his hand.

"It's a book on weapons. I would like to keep the contents to myself." said the boy before Kakashi even had an opportunity to ask.

"Maa maa, I was just asking…"

(Half an hour later)

The three Genin stood in front of their commanding officer, waiting for further instructions. "Alright, so before we begin, I will tell you one thing. You are not Genin yet." said Kakashi, who received looks of shock from his 'students'.

"But sensei, we already gave the Genin exams, we're more than ready!" complained Sakura, only to receive a fierce glare from their sensei's lone eye.

"If you thought that those tests were enough to make you ready of the world out there, then you should quit now. What will await you is death on your first mission." the fierceness was quickly replaced by an eye smile.

"Now, back to more pleasant news, if you can clear my test, then you become Genin!" her eyes lit up. "But the success rate is only 33%. If you fail, you will be sent back to the academy!" her face fell into shock again.

"Now…let's begin with the rules…"

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I was super tempted to do the test, but I wanted to get this chapter out soon, since I had kept you all waiting for a while. I'm unsure how long it will be until the next chapter, but will try to get it out ASAP.

This time, more A rank Battlesuits that you may recognize (if you've read until now, you'll probably recognize them. And if someone says that the Ranger Uniform that he wore before was an A rank as well, it wasn't really a Battlesuit in that case.) Some new weapons were brought here too, and expect to see more soon!

As usual, Review Please! Positive feedback is very much welcome, constructive criticism will be accepted, but flames will be ignored.

I reply to questions in PMs, so if you want to ask anything, feel free to ask under the reviews.

As usual, please let me know if the quality of writing has declined since the last chapter. That way, I'll see if there's a way I can improve the next one.

Thanks for reading this chapter!

DelTheAUO, Out.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello there, DelTheAUO here!

I hope everyone's doing alright in the current state of the world. It's pretty hectic out there so don't think too much about it. Just stay safe and be alert.

Anyway, let's continue with this story!

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'I swear, if he pulls a stunt like yesterday, I'd rather go back to the academy and wait another year. I'm not going to let myself be ordered around by a Jounin who's that tardy.' mentally spoke our young Herrscher, walking to Training ground 7 while eating an onigiri that was…comically large. Yet, it did not look any different from the standard ones apart from the size.

"**But…you'll have to repeat another year at school. That's soooooo boring. Just suck it up and stick with the team."** said Kiana, while remembering her 'fun' times at St. Freya. Having extra lessons with the class monitor had not helped. Not. One. Bit.

'If it means having a more competent Jounin who will actually bother to show up on time, then yes. I'm willing to suffer another year there. Even better, I won't have those two as my teammates, so that makes it all the sweeter.' said Naruto, defending his point.

"**That may be true, but there are a few things that might have happened. First, the Hokage, or Kakashi himself might have specifically requested for you, since they did not follow the team balancing rule as it goes for every year. So, if it's the former, then the Hokage thinks that he might be a suitable teacher for you. If it's the latter, then he has some sort of connection to you. Possibly your parents. Speaking of which, are you even interested in knowing who they are?" **said Mei, looking at it from a logical point of view.

'Honestly? I would be lying if I say that I'm not curious. But is it high on my list of priorities? Not by a long shot. If I get to know somehow, then it's great. If not, then tough luck. I won't go out of my way to find identities of people who are either dead, or worse, abandoned me, which would hurt even more.' he responded.

"**Fair enough. Anyway, the second reason for this might be for surveillance. Both you and Sasuke are potential flight risks in their eyes, so they want to ensure that they have an eye on you at all times. And possibly even develop a rivalry between the two of you in order to hone your skills in a way that's under their control."**

'I sure hope that's not the case. Anyway, we're here, so I'll call on you when needed.' he said as he entered the Training Ground, noticing that he was the first one there. Taking the opportunity, he went around the area and scanned it, while looking for possible hiding or trapping spots in case a fight was to happen. The place was actually a massive place to train in, with a small forest, a lake and in the middle of it all, a clearing with some stumps on it, next to a large monolithic structure, with what appeared to be names etched into it. Being a ninja meant being prepared for everything in order to win, and getting the layout of the area was one of the most crucial things that can be used to their advantage.

After returning to the clearing, she saw that his other two teammates had arrived with an irritated expression on their faces. The effect of their sensei's tardiness was clearly visible. Deciding to remain silent, he leaned against one of the stumps and closed his eyes. Feeling out the Honkai energy within him, the way it circulated around his body, empowering him. It was somewhat…calmer than it should be. After all, the word 'Honkai' itself was connected to the words 'collapse' and 'destruction'. Yet, it only had a small attribute of chaos to it. Most likely his body was adjusting to the Herrscher core in him, which had gifted him with this highly potent energy. There was another thing that was controlling the energy. The red mark on his back, known as a Stigmata.

It was usually unheard of for a Herrscher candidate or a fully awakened Herrscher to manifest a Stigmata immediately after coming into contact with Honkai energy for the first time. So, the only possibilities were that the Stigmata was created by the core itself to avoid an energy overload, or that his bloodline had a high adaptability to Honkai energy, or a combination of both. The stigmata had stored the excess Honkai energy from the core and slowly leaked it back into his system as it got acclimated to the energy. But typical Stigmatas do not result in having the ability to store excess energy to such an extent, so it could also be his blood.

He had gone over this dilemma with his tenants, but none of them were able to give a definite solution. Since most of the families in their time, who possessed a Natural Stigmata were identified already, provided that they were already born in an environment with Honkai energy, this sort of situation was alien to them as well.

He was broken from his thoughts by a swirl of leaves, followed by the signature eye-smile of their Jounin-sensei.

"Why good morning my future yet-to-be students!" he said, as if he was talking about the weather.

"YOU'RE LATE! IT'S NO LONGER MORNING ANYMORE!" came the shrill voice of the only girl on the team. Her teammates could only cover their ears, but the expression on their faces showed that they shared the sentiment.

"Haha, I'm sorry there. I just got lost on the road of life. Anyway- "he replied, before he was interrupted.

"WHAT SORT OF EXCUSE IS THAT? YOU TELL US TO COME HERE AT SEVEN IN THE MORNING, BUT YOU CAME THREE HOURS LATE!" she yelled once more, but the Jounin simply shrugged it off.

"Anyway, getting back to point. Your objective is to take- "he began, as he pulled out two bells from his pocket. "-one of these bells from me. The one who fails to get a bell will be sent back to the academy. You have until noon. Any questions?" he said as he pulled out a clock from his pouch. Naruto raised his hand. "Yes Naruto?"

"You had a clock with you, yet you still came three hours late? Mind explaining how that was able to happen?" he said, causing pin-drop silence for a solid two minutes as the other graduates and the Jounin pondered over this.

"Uhh…let's not get too concerned over the details, shall we?" replied Kakashi with a chuckle, seeing as he had no answer to that. "Anyway, one more thing. Whoever fails to get a bell by noon- "he pulled out two bento boxes from a scroll "-will be tied to one of those stumps and will have to watch the other two eat."

As if the gods had planned this moment, two stomachs growled loudly. The owners of these stomachs looked at their teammate, who gave them a blank look. "What? Do I have something on my face?" the look then changed to a small smirk "or something in my stomach? Then yes I do."

"You baka! Kakashi-sensei told us not to eat breakfast. You could have caused us to fail at the beginning!" yelled Sakura, while trying to punch Naruto, only for him to grip her hand.

"Are you stupid? Only an idiot would go for any form of battle or 'survival training' on an empty stomach. If you don't have the energy to fight, then you won't be able to survive. Use that large brain of yours sometimes. Or did you leave it at the academy?" he explained as he let go of the girl's hand, whose owner was glaring at him for the direct insult to her only strength back at the academy. Meanwhile Sasuke was annoyed at himself for not thinking logically as well.

"Well said Naruto. Let this be a lesson to all of you. Make sure to separate information from misinformation, in order to ensure your survival and the mission's completion. Everyone is capable of both, even the Hokage himself. And besides, I merely suggested that you don't eat. I did not force any of you. Now, enough wasting time- "he received very powerful glares from the three of them. "Come at me with the intent to kill. Otherwise, you won't be able to clear the test. We shall begin on the count of three. One- "he was interrupted as he held up a kunai to block a sword that was aimed for a straight frontal slash towards his chest.

"Naruto, I never finished the countdown. Be patient." said Kakashi, while staring at the weapon. The blade looked like a standard katana, but the grip was somewhat different. There was no cloth, and the guard was shaped like wings of a sort. The cutting edge was jet black, while the non-cutting edge was white. There was a layer of yellow separating the two, which appeared to glow slightly.

"True, you didn't. But in a life or death battle, your opponent wouldn't tell you when to begin." came the reply as the boy jumped back, holding the sword in a guarded stance.

"Fair enough. You three may begin." declared Kakashi as two blurs disappeared into the deep vegetation. "Uhh…aren't you supposed to go hide now? Ninjas being stealthy and such? I just want to read my book damnit." said Kakashi to the Uzumaki standing in front of him, as he pulled out a small orange book from his pouch.

"It doesn't matter how stealthy you are if your enemy knows all the hiding places in the area. I'd rather fight you right now instead of wasting my energy waiting for you to inevitably find me." came the response. "Now let's begin." he said, as he threw a kunai at Kakashi, fully expecting him to dodge or block it, to allow for a momentary distraction. At the same time, he generated a ring of blue lightning in his left hand and threw it as well, leaving a small trail behind it.

Sensing both the attacks, and being mildly surprised at an academy graduate being able to use lightning manipulation, he plucked the Kunai out of the air and used it to slice the lightning ring, but was completely unprepared for what happened next. The ring dispersed, and Naruto appeared in front of him in an instant, making a slash with his sword. While he managed to dodge the attack, his book wasn't that lucky.

Now that his book was cut apart, Kakashi was not happy at all. But he decided to humour his student and take this fight a little more seriously. "Okay. Looks like I won't be able to read this time around. Let's see what you got shall we?" he said, as he gripped the stolen kunai in his hand.

Not wasting a second breath, the boy lunged at him with his sword. Now, instead of the forward slashes he faced, this was a diagonal slash starting from his left shoulder. Having noticed that his blind spots were being targeted, the Jounin blocked the blade with the kunai, but was once again surprised to see that the genin had recovered from the clash, and immediately followed up with another slash, this time, on the opposite side.

As multiple consecutive attacks were made upon his person, with all of them being blocked, the weapon's glow became stronger, and Kakashi could feel the force behind each attack even more than the last. Was the boy getting stronger, or was he getting a little tired?

'I need to get away for a bit.' though Kakashi as he was sliced in half, only to disperse and reveal a log cut cleanly down the middle. The glow on the blade immediately faded away, leaving a slightly panting Naruto.

'So that's what this weapon does. The force of each strike increases as the number of continuous strikes increases. Once the attacks end, the ability ends after a set duration, currently unknown. But I can see why I wasn't allowed to use Soulium weapons. They drain you way too much too quickly if you aren't physically ready.' he thought, analysing the outcome of the battle. 'I'd better get away before he returns. Jounins really are crazy strong. He handled that kunai extremely precisely, and didn't use his other hand at all.' With this, the third student vanished into the forest.

(With Sakura)

'Hah! Our sensei could barely keep up with that baka! Sasuke-kun should be able to take him on no problem. He'll take the bells and definitely give one to me after all!' she thought while giggling as she saw the fight from her hiding spot.

Meanwhile behind her, Kakashi sighed. 'Delusional girl. Pretty obvious as to what she's thinking. Oh well. Time to end this.'

"Sa…Sakura…" came a raspy voice as the girl turned around to see a horrific (to her) sight. In front of her was Sasuke, with sharp objects piercing every part of him, along with a few burn marks, crawling towards her. "Run…away. He's t-too strong…" he managed to say before he slumped to the ground, in apparent death. Sakura, being unable to handle the 'death' of her teammate, did the one thing she could do. Scream and faint due to shock.

'Shinobi Lesson- Genjutsu…and she was supposed to have really good chakra control too. I guess her book smarts was the only thing she got going for her other than her obsession with the Uchiha. Now, let's see what said Uchiha has got in store for me.' thought Kakashi as he stared at his unconscious student in disappointment, then burst into a puff of smoke, the tell-tale sign of the shadow clone.

(In another location)

The scream echoed through the dense forest of the training ground, which was simply ignored by the other two students, since their own priority was to stay hidden from their Sensei.

"Looking for someone? You should really care more about the well-being of your teammates you know?" Came a drawn-out voice next to Sasuke, who immediately jumped to another branch of the tree that he was perched on. The owner of said voice being their examiner, who was reading a small book.

"Hmph. I don't need others to help me. They will only slow me down. That pathetic girl will just slow me down. And the dobe…let's just leave it at that." he said with an arrogant tone. Kakashi sighed.

"Just give them a chance, will you? Who knows, they might surprise you. After all, Naruto got close to taking a bell after all so who knows? Maybe Sakura is hiding something as well." said Kakashi, while secretly giving a hint about the test, like he had done so before with the other teams.

"If the dobe got close to getting a bell, I should be more than capable of getting one myself!" said Sasuke as he started flipping through some hand seals, which Kakashi instantly recognized and put away his book.

'Impossible! A genin shouldn't have the chakra or the control for this technique!' he thought as he prepared his own counterattack.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" roared the Uchiha, releasing a large fireball that rushed at the target, causing a massive explosion upon impact, satisfied at the technique, the boy, got closer to collect his prize, but was only greeted with the sight of a charred log. Before he could move a step further, he was pulled into the ground up to his neck.

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu. You're pretty skilled with ninjutsu, but as far as reacting efficiently to situations is concerned, you could do a lot better. Hope for your teammates to come here soon…unless you can get out by yourself that is." he said, as he pulled out his book and walked away to the clearing, leaving a fuming Sasuke behind.

Taking the opportunity to reveal himself, a figure stepped out from the trees. "He's pretty strong huh. Guess the title of Jounin isn't just for show."

"So dobe, have you come here to laugh at me? I'd rather have you get me out of this situation." came the reply from the trapped boy.

"I could get you out of this situation, yes. But give me an answer to this first. If I get you out, will you help me in getting the bells from Kakashi-sensei? If we work together efficiently, then we have a chance at getting the bells from him. Surely, you don't expect to beat a Jounin by yourself?" said 'dobe' replied, as he inspected his sword.

"Hn. I'll wait for you and that fangirl to tire him out. By then I'll get out and take the bells from him easily. You're worth that much." was the reply, as the boy struggled to get out with a strained expression on his face.

"Suit yourself. This might bite you later on." replied Naruto as he walked back into the trees, a plan in mind.

(Back in the clearing)

Kakashi took his eyes off his book and on the clock. It was almost time. Just 5 minutes left. Looks like it would be another failed team.

'Obito…looks like your relative isn't like you after all- 'his thoughts were interrupted as an explosion came from the edge of the clearing, with two figures being blown into it.

"No! Sakura!" Came a voice from one of the two, who was revealed to be Naruto as soon as the dust cleared. With the other one being Sasuke, who was heavily panting. At the edge of the clearing, there was a ninja with a Kumo headband on, and he had a kunai to a terrified Sakura's neck.

"I'm not going to say it again kid, hand over the Uchiha now, and we'll let her live." he said, as he applied some more pressure, making the girl pale even further.

"No way! Come Sasuke we can take him toge- No! Don't rush in!" yelled Naruto as Sasuke ran towards the Kumo ninja, with kunai in hand.

Before he could attack, another Kumo ninja stepped out of the forest, weaving some hand seals. "Raiton: Gian!" he yelled, as a bolt of lightning sped towards Sasuke, who was too slow to dodge it and it almost struck him, but was intercepted by Kakashi, who's hand was covered in lightning.

"What are you Kumo ninja doing here?" he demanded, with a serious expression, unlike one he had moments before.

"Heh, do you seriously expect us to tell that to you?" Said the Kumo ninja, as 3 more of them popped out from the forest. "Get him!"

All the enemy ninja rushed at the Jounin at once, but two of them were intercepted by Naruto and Sasuke with their sword and kunai respectively. "We got these two for now. Take care of the leader!" yelled Naruto as he sliced his opponent with a diagonal slash, making him burst into smoke, indicating a clone.

"Sasuke, Sakura, they're clones! Land a solid hit on them and they'll disperse" he said as he cut into another enemy.

With Kakashi, he was seeing red. Kumo ninja has infiltrated the village somehow and were targeting the Uchiha, a valuable asset to the village's military might. While not his students yet, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself for losing three potential ninjas, with one of them being the Jinchuuriki and the other being his best friend's relative.

"So, I get to fight the great Copy-nin himself. This will be worth it. Raiton: Gian!" he yelled, as another burst of lightning was expelled, albeit a little faster than the previous one. However, it wasn't fast enough to hit Kakashi.

"Hmm…not bad... but how about this!" He said, as he pulled out a katana, and coated it in lightning chakra and released it in an extremely fast wave, which grazed Kakashi's left arm, causing it to go numb.

"Not bad huh? Let me aim properly this time." he said as he charged his sword again, intent on a second strike that would end the battle.

He was interrupted by a flurry of kunai and shuriken being thrown by the three genin, causing him to lose his focus. Taking the opportunity, Kakashi uncovered his headband, revealing the red, tomoed eye of this Sharingan, and charged up his only original Jutsu.

"Oh no you don't!" Roared the Kumo ninja as he rushed at Kakashi head on with his sword, with full intention to interrupt the technique and preserve his life. However, the perceptive power of the eye helped Kakashi avoid a possibly fatal attack and rammed his hand through the ninja's chest, while the ninja managed to graze his cheek. Observing no more enemies and feeling the drain of the Sharingan, Kakashi covered his eye once more.

"Heh…this is it..." said the Kumo ninja as his body burst into smoke, signalling a clone. As the clone dissipated, three kunai struck Kakashi's back, only for him to use a substitution in time. In a few seconds, the three genin were in the ground, up to their necks.

"Nice try, but I'm more experienced than you think. Still, I'm impressed that you three managed to work together to fight those enemies. Congratulations! You're officially a team now!" said Kakashi with an eye smile, before his one visible eye widened and he collapsed to his knees, his skin becoming very pale.

As his vision started to get blurry, he saw the three genin burst into plumes of smoke, and a person walk in front of him. The one feature that gave away the person's identity were those deep violet eyes and the katana in their hand. "So…teamwork was the answer huh…I'll be sure to let them know. Thank you for passing us as a team…Kakashi sensei…"

The last thing he heard was the alarm ringing, signalling that time was up.

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Has it been a while since I uploaded? Yes. It's been super chaotic and I ended up getting writer's block. I lost my initial ideas for the bell test too, which kinda sucks. (Note to self: Make notes of ideas the instant they come to you so that you don't forget them when needed)

One thing I received complaints about is the Battlesuits. Here's the deal. They're pretty much the main thing in HI3, and changing them to suit a male body doesn't really sit well with me (call me out for having weird thoughts if you want) . I mean, some of them like most of Fu Hua's are equally gender-oriented, so those don't need to be changed (not confirming their appearance in this story though). As for the others, I might change some a little, I might not. This is still a flexible idea for me, so I would like some more views on this.

As usual, Review Please! Positive feedback is very much welcome, constructive criticism will be accepted, but flames will be ignored.

I reply to questions in PMs, so if you want to ask anything, feel free to ask in the reviews.

As usual, please let me know if the quality of writing has declined since the last chapter. That way, I'll see if there's a way I can improve the next one.

Thanks for reading this chapter!

DelTheAUO, Out.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello there, DelTheAUO here!

Back with another chapter. Sorry it took a while, but I managed to bring it out. Hope everyone is doing well out there.

Anyway, let's continue with this story!

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The Hokage was standing in front of his small army of Jounin in his office, awaiting the news from them. Taking a quick count of the people in the room, he sighed as he noticed one was missing. And he knew perfectly well who that was.

"Since Kakashi is the only one who hasn't come, we can start this meeting. All those whose teams passed, please step forward." he ordered, and was not at all surprised to see only two Jounin step forward. He took a deep puff from his pipe. With the low standards of the academy, it was no surprise that there would be a lot of failures. "Everyone other than Jounin Sarutobi and Jounin Yuuhi can stay if they wish to hear. Otherwise, you're dismissed." A few Jounin decided to leave to possibly have the rest of the day off.

"Now, Jounin Yuuhi, you can start with Team 8. What was the analysis of their performance?" Hiruzen asked.

"Team 8, from what I could tell, is meant to be a tracking and capture squad. So, I had them find my position in the forest near the village. It took them a few hours, but they eventually managed to find me, even after I used some Genjutsu and spread my scent all over the place. The team is balanced in terms of various ways of tracking, and make up for each other's shortcomings. Granted they have their own personal issues, but some time together as a team can fix that." Kurenai explained. Satisfied with the reasoning, the Hokage motioned Asuma to speak up.

"Team 10 is the new Ino-Shika-Cho of this generation, so their skills complement each other. I faced them in a spar, and as expected, they managed to hold their own as a team. Their connection with their parents made sure that they had no problems with each other. Their current objective should be improving their individual abilities in every important area, but that can be solved with time." Said Asuma.

"Okay, fair enough. Now then, you're all – "Hiruzen began, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. Not expecting anyone at this time, and the fact that the ANBU outside should have stopped anyone from entering for any non-urgent reason, he called them in. However, he was surprised to see the genin of Team 7 come in.

"Team 7? Why are you here? Did Kakashi not come for your test? His tardiness is really becoming an issue…" said Hiruzen, before Naruto broke him out of his train of thought.

"I apologise to interrupt you, but due to our teamwork and approach to the test, Kakashi-sensei is currently recuperating in the hospital." he said, causing every Jounin in the room to have wide eyes.

"W-What? Kakashi in the hospital? But how? Mere Genin cannot simply put a Jounin into the hospital, even if they are the Rookie of the Year!" exclaimed one of the Jounin.

"I couldn't have put it any better. What happened to Kakashi?" asked the Hokage, curious as to how Kakashi, one of his strongest Jounin was overpowered by some fresh recruits from the academy.

"Uhh…. long version or short?"

"The long version. My curiosity has been piqued."

"Okay, what we did was induce stress on Kakashi-sensei. We did it by staging an enemy attack. With some cooperation from Sasuke and Sakura, along with some well disguised Kage Bunshin, we managed to trick Kakashi-sensei into thinking that there was a foreign ninja after Sasuke's Sharingan. Due to the suddenness of the situation, he had no choice but to fight the enemy. These enemy ninjas were actually Kage Bunshin that had a Henge on them. In his haste to keep us safe, he forgot to sense the enemy's chakra. Right before he killed my clone, who was acting as the enemy leader, the clone managed to land a small cut on him with a poisoned blade, which Kakashi failed to take notice of, as he was more concerned of our well-being, and that a small cut was not painful at all. The pressure of the situation had caused his heart rate to rise exponentially, which only circulated the poison even more. After commending us for our teamwork against the enemy and passing us, the poison took effect and he passed out. We took the bells and brought him to the hospital."

Everyone in the room's jaws dropped. No way a genin was able to think of such an elaborate plan to overcome an incredibly strong adversary. Some of them frowned when they heard that the team had turned their sensei's concern for them against him. This may result in them (and Kakashi) to trust this team less in future missions, but they couldn't deny the efficiency of this strategy.

"W-wow. This was not what I expected at all. Is it really true though?" asked Hiruzen, still surprised at what he had just heard. Sasuke and Sakura each held a bell up in response and nodded. They remembered what Naruto had told them on their way here.

(Flashback)

Still stuck in the ground, Sasuke was thinking of a way to get out and beat Kakashi. His thoughts were interrupted by the jingling of a bell that landed in front of him. A familiar voice soon followed.

"I've given you a bell. Now, I'll get you out and then we'll go get Sakura." said Naruto, as he walked in front of Sasuke.

"Dobe? What are you doing here? And how do you have a bell?" Sasuke demanded, seeing as his objective was completed by another.

"You will have your answers and the bell, if you agree to follow my instructions. Your response will decide if you will get this bell or not." said Naruto as he picked up the bell.

Before Sasuke could begin his demands again, Sakura rushed into the clearing, only to see Sasuke buried up to his neck, and Naruto with a bell in his hand.

"Nar- "before she could yell, a kunai landed on the ground right where she would've taken her next step.

"Be quiet, will you? I didn't do this to him, so don't take your anger out on me. Now that you're here, that saves me the trouble of finding you. I'll give you the same deal as Sasuke. You can have your answers and a bell, but only if you agree to follow my instructions."

"You baka! Why would we listen to you? I'll get Sasuke out of here, and we'll just get the bells from you!" yelled Sakura, as she walked over to Sasuke, intent on getting him out.

Naruto sighed. Looks like he'd have to pull out the last card. "You try any of that, and I won't hesitate to destroy the bells. All three of us will fail in that case." he said, as violet sparks emitted from the hand that was not holding the bells.

Sakura froze. This did not leave her with any choice now. By the time she got Sasuke out, the bells would be destroyed, and with them, their ticket to passing. Looking at Sasuke, she saw the irritated look on his face, not liking this situation at all.

'If the Dobe destroys the bells, we won't have a chance of passing at all. At this rate, I'll be even further away from killing _him_. Looks like I have no choice. I'll follow his 'instructions' for now.' thought Sasuke, as he weighed his options.

"Fine. I'll follow your _instructions _as you call it. But it better not be something outrageous. I still want answers however." said Sasuke, still annoyed, but content with the decision. As long as he became stronger.

"Are you sure Sasuke-kun? He could- "began Sakura, only to be interrupted by a harsh glare from the boy.

"I trust that you will stick to your end of the deal." Said Naruto, as he pulled Sasuke out of the ground with Sakura's assistance. The three of them returned to a Naruto clone guarding Kakashi's unconscious body.

"As I said, you will have your answers as well. For now, we need to get him to the hospital. Can't leave him here after all." he said, as he tossed the bells to Sasuke and Sakura. "As for the 'instructions', there is only one. React naturally when you have to. As for what to react to, you will know very soon."

(End Flashback)

'I see. So, this is what he meant.' Thought Sasuke, still surprised at what he heard. Was this a story that was made up? Or was this what had actually happened, and the roles of Sasuke and Sakura were replaced by transformed clones? Either way, he was somewhat taken back by the effectiveness of the plan. He didn't show it on his face, however.

"Well then, since you say Kakashi passed you, I'll have to hear from the man himself to confirm it. But given the circumstances, you'll likely pass. You can leave now. I'll have Kakashi contact you when he returns." said Hiruzen. The genin nodded and left the room, eager to return to their homes.

"I think we have just witnessed the first time a team has managed to clear the bell test by force. As much as I don't like the fact that they exploited Kakashi's intent on protecting his team like that, it ended up working in the end. Knowing Kakashi, he probably told them to give it their best shot. Now, you all can leave. I'll check up on him." said Hiruzen as everyone remaining in the office left for their own destinations.

(A week later)

'So…. today is our first day as Team 7 huh. I wonder what he'll make us do? Some training for our individual skills? Or some team exercises?' thought Naruto, as he was being brought up to ground level.

"I guess it depends. Back in St. Freya, both were emphasised on. After all, each member of a team should have a similar overall strength level. That way, they can coordinate with each other using their own limits as an example. Of course, there can be some exceptions, but the gap isn't too far apart. I still remember when a _certain someone _used to get beaten down by the Major every other week."said Mei with a chuckle, getting a groan from Kiana.

"Seeeeenpaaaaai why did you have to tell him that?" whined Kiana, blushing from embarrassment.

"Aww come on. A little teasing never hurt anyone. As a matter of fact, he used to act like you when he was training with Fu Hua in the replication device. So he knows what a little beat down feels like."now it was his turn to be embarrassed.

(A few minutes later, at the training ground)

The genin of Team 7 were waiting for their sensei to show up, which is something they suspected was going to be a regular thing. Sasuke was brooding…as usual, while taking the occasional glances at the Herrscher, thinking of how someone his age managed to overpower someone with way more combat experience. Sakura was, as usual, daydreaming about (most likely) Sasuke, and Naruto was laying on the ground, with his eyes closed.

Suddenly, their sensei arrived in the typical Shunshin, startling Sakura, who was not used to people appearing out of nowhere. Taking another look at his team, who had now gathered to his position, he prepared himself for the challenge that was to come.

"Okay, since you're officially a team now, it's time for introductions! Usually, I do this before the test, but since the teams that I was given before you three have failed the bell test, I didn't expect you to clear it either!" Said Kakashi in a cheerful tone, as if the events that occurred a week ago never happened.

"We'll start with you pinky! Tell us about yourself. Likes? Dislikes? Dream for the future? Things like that."

"Uhh…why don't you start first as an example sensei?" asked the girl, making the other three sweat drop. 'And she was supposed to be the smartest in the class?' was the collective thought.

"Alright then, I'll start. My name is Kakashi Hatake, Jounin of Konoha. My likes…hmm…you're too young to know. My dislikes are traitors. Hobbies…same as the first one. Dreams for the future? Don't really know. Now it's your turn." he said.

'He didn't really say much.' thought the genin. "Okay, my name is Sakura Haruno, Genin of Konoha. I like…*stares at Sasuke*…My hobbies are…*stares at Sasuke*… Dreams for the future are…*squeals*"

"*sigh*…fangirls" muttered Kakashi, inaudible to the others. "I don't even want to know her dislikes. Okay. Next is you girly boy." he said, trying to get a rise out of his student, only to be disappointed by the lack of reaction.

"Alright then. Naruto Uzumaki, Genin of Konoha. Likes are training and some very special people. Dislikes are…hmm…can't think of any right now. Hobbies? Training, I guess. Dreams for the future? No. It's more of a goal. To eliminate all conflict in the world." he said, with a straight face and only a slight shift in emotion.

"Eliminating all conflict? Any ideas as to how to proceed with this?" asked Kakashi, interested in what he just heard. Most fresh genin would think of something like 'to become Hokage', or 'to live a satisfactory life'. This was completely different.

"I'll let you think about it. If you can make a close guess, I'll give you a hint." said the boy, with a challenging smirk on his face.

"Hmm…we'll get to that later. Last of all, your turn broody." said Kakashi, eliciting a snarl from the mentioned 'broody', who clearly disliked that name.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha" emphasis on his clan name. "I don't like a lot of things and dislike many things. My dream…no, ambition, is to kill a certain man." he said, ending with a dark tone.

"You do realize that we know who you're talking about and he's an S rank wanted criminal known throughout the nations. What makes you think that nobody else will get to him first? Ever thought of that?" said Naruto, wanting to get a rise from the Uchiha, but also giving a reality check.

"I won't let that happen. I'll become strong enough to kill him before anyone else can! If he gets himself killed by someone else, I'll- "

"You'll what? Kill the one that kills him? Good luck with that. The bounty on his head will attract a lot of bounty hunters. Powerful ones at that, since he's marked as an S rank. Hmm… if he's still alive and I'm capable enough, I'll go after him if given the chance. Just because you want to kill him with your own hands, doesn't make him your target alone." said Naruto, with his eyes glowing a deep violet and with narrowed pupils, and sword in hand.

Unnerved by the words spoken to him, Sasuke was about to say something before Kakashi broke the tension. "Maa maa Naruto, don't discourage him. It's his own dream after all. What would you do if someone manages to achieve your own goals and steal your chance to accomplish it yourself?"

The glowing stopped and the blade was put away. "In that case, I would praise the person who did it. Have you already forgotten what my goal is?"

"Ah yes. To…eliminate…conflict…" Kakashi realized that this was not going well, he would have to act fast to dispel the tension.

"Anyway, the point is, don't discourage Sasuke. Having a goal to work towards is good motivation to get strong and protect ones who can't protect themselves, am I right?" said Kakashi, while regaining his composure.

"Hmm…that's true. I will not, however take my words back. It's better to accept the facts now than be disappointed later." he said and put his sword away.

"Fair enough. Now then, since we're a team, I would like to know some of your capabilities as of now. We'll work on team exercises every day, but building upon your individual strengths is just as important. We'll start with you Naruto." said Kakashi.

"I prefer kenjutsu, combined with some lightning techniques. My Taijutsu should be at an acceptable level too if needed. I still prefer using my sword as much as possible." said Naruto, making Kakashi eye smile.

"That's very good. I'm a lightning user myself, so I can teach you a few things. We need to test your affinity though. But that can come after we're done with this. Sasuke, your turn."

"I can use my clan's Taijutsu style, but as you know, I need the Sharingan to use it effectively. I can use some fire jutsu as well, along with some Shurikenjutsu." he said, getting a satisfied nod.

"Sounds pretty good. Both of you know a little more than what the academy taught, which is good. Now, Sakura, what do you have to offer to the team?" he asked the girl, why turned away after she realised that she hadn't done anything extra aside from what was taught in the academy.

"Umm…I don't really know anything aside from what was taught in the academy…" she said nervously. Kakashi sighed.

"I guess I was hoping for too much. It's fine, maybe depending on your chakra control, we could turn you into a supportive role. A close combat unit, a ranged unit, and a support unit. Sounds balanced to me. Now, let's do another test." he saw the genin freeze up. "Not that kind of test, this is more like a check-up test." they relaxed. He reached into his pouch and pulled out four pieces of paper.

"This here, is chakra paper. It was made from a plant that was supplied with chakra throughout its growth. As a result, it became sensitive to the alignment of chakra. Depending on the nature of your chakra…" he took one of the papers and channelled his chakra through it. "…the result will vary." he finished, and the paper crinkled.

"I'll explain the details later. First, the three of you do the same." he said and handed them one paper each. Sasuke's ignited into flames and turned to ash. "Hmm…that's a fire element. As expected, given your lineage." commented Kakashi. Sakura's turned brown, but that was all. "Hmm…Sakura, use more chakra." said Kakashi as the girl did so, but only the edges started to crumble. "Okay, your chakra is not very potent, but your result indicates an earth element. Since the strength of your chakra cannot change, we need to work on increasing your reserves." he said, and she nodded. Naruto's paper turned slightly darker, before crinkling into a small ball and releasing a few sparks.

"Uhh…." began Kakashi trying to process the results. "I haven't seen the paper turn darker before, but it appears your lightning affinity is the strongest I've seen." said Kakashi in awe, making Sasuke turn away and seethe in jealousy.

"Okay, now that we know each other's strengths, we can start training. However, we shall start with team exercises first. After all, we pride on our teamwork in this village after all." 'It's also better to have everyone in the team get along with each other. After all, we need to maintain the loyalty of two of the biggest flight risks here.' he thought as he stared as the two boys in the team.

The Uchiha on the team started to mutter to himself. "I'd rather do some missions to improve myself rather than spend time with these two losers…". However, this was caught by Kakashi.

"Now now Sasuke, you didn't let me finish." he said with an eye smile, surprising the Genin. "I know the best way to build some teamwork. And that is…"

(Time skip)

"I am in position sensei. Target is in sight. Should I go for it?" came Naruto's voice.

"Feel free. The others are in position too in case something goes wrong." said Kakashi from his vantage point, looking at his students hidden in various positions.

"Okay. I'm going for it. You two be prepared." he said as he pointed his finger at their target, who appeared to be sound asleep, but looked like they could jump at a moment's notice. With no prior warning, a small bolt of electricity burst from the finger and made contact with the target, successfully paralyzing them.

"Target captured…for the 14th time. Damnit sensei, how many times will this thing escape?" said a clearly annoyed Naruto, as he picked up the 'target' which was a cat.

"I'm not sure, but we cannot question certain things." said Kakashi, as he jumped down, and walked up to the boy, along with the rest of the team.

"3 hours this time. Looks like this is a new personal best." he said with an eye smile. "Let's go to the Mission Room now. Our client should be happy."

(Later, in the Mission Room)

"Oh, my sweet Tora! You got him at last!" squealed a very…big boned woman, as she glomped the recovered cat. Said cat began gasping for air and tried to escape from his owner.

'So that's why it runs away…' was the collective thought of the genin, as the woman and the cat left the room.

"Well done Team 7. Now, for your next mission, you can either de-weed this garden, or help with moving things for this business, or…" began the Hokage, before a familiar "TORA, COME BACK" came out from outside the room." …or go catch Tora again." he finished and took a puff from his pipe. One of the genin on the team was at his limit by this point.

"I refuse to do any more menial chores! I want a mission of higher difficulty that can stretch my abilities to their limit, and not these pathetic _missions_" he spat the last word with venom. He has hated that cat and refused to go near it after it nearly scratched out his precious eyes.

"As much as I would like to remain silent, I agree as well. These missions are not worth our time, and they can be done by academy students. Our time can be better spent training our individual abilities." said Naruto, as he was cleaning and inspecting his sword's condition.

"Hmm…very well. Kakashi, do you think that they are ready for a C rank mission?" said the Hokage, and Kakashi entered his 'serious Jounin mode'.

"Their teamwork could use some more work, but after what happened during the bell test, they could probably handle some bandits or so. A C rank mission would give them some much needed experience too." said Kakashi seriously. Iruka, who had been silently sitting there, began to object.

"Hokage-sama, you can't be serious here. They've been genin for a very short time and you're already giving them a C rank?" exclaimed Iruka, making his own opinion known. Kakashi shot him a cold glare.

"They are no longer your students Iruka. They are my soldiers now. They're much different from when they left the academy. Considering that they were able to clear my test, and by force at that, they are plenty capable. I would even go as far as to say that they were holding back in the academy. Especially Naruto." he said firmly.

"Kakashi is right Iruka, they are under his command now. If he considers them ready, then they're ready." said the Hokage with a stern expression. Iruka apologetically sat down.

"Now, for your C rank, we have only one at the moment, but it should suffice. In fact, the client is waiting outside. Please escort him in." said the Hokage to a chuunin at the door, who left the room. The genin began to wonder who the client was. Was he some sort of noble to protect? Or someone who wanted something to be recovered? They had a brief idea of what kind of missions C ranks consisted of. Bodyguard duties, object recovery, protection of small towns and villages from bandits, and the like. Nothing involving ninja.

They were interrupted by an old man entering the room, clearly drunk. Even though he looked old, his body was well built, indicating a profession involving laborious work. The bottle of sake in his hand, however, was very off putting.

"Huh? I asked for ninja. Not a one-eyed freak, an emo kid, and two girls who don't even look like they- "he spoke in a slur, before he was interrupted by his sake bottle shattering into bits. The sudden noise awoke him from his drunken state, only to see the source of the incident was one of the 'girls' holding a sword that sparked with blue electricity pointed at where the bottle used to be. He also heard a distinctly male voice escape from their lips.

"Client-san, I suggest not underestimating us. If you want someone else, I suggest you pay up for a higher ranked mission." he said, with no emotion, as the sword was now pointed at said client. "Also, as you can tell by my voice, I'm a guy."

The old man froze at the statement, which did not go unnoticed by Kakashi. "Uhhh…it's fine, I'm cool with you. Just…just be on time tomorrow morning at 7 AM." he said, as the frightened client quickly left the room.

Hiruzen sighed. Way to make a first impression. "Naruto-kun, please do not antagonize the client. You don't need to like them. Just…put up with their antics, will you?"

The boy sighed and put his sword away. "Fine. But if he shows up drunk again, I'm paralyzing him. Anyway, what are we supposed to do?"

"The client's name is Tazuna, and you have to escort him to Nami no Kuni. It's a few weeks away from Konoha, so pack up for a long trip." said Hiruzen, while making a mental note to send an ANBU to Tazuna's residence to warn him. Being informed of Naruto's abilities with lightning by Kakashi, he wasn't going to take any chances.

He still wondered how that boy had such control over lightning. It's like he was meant to rule the element altogether. And that darkening of the chakra paper…that was something that was never recorded at all. And there was still the matter of the Kyuubi, but Hiruzen shook off those thoughts.

Kakashi, then turned to his students. "Alright. Tomorrow at the eastern gate at 7 AM. Don't be late." he said, and immediately disappeared in a shunshin. Excited at the prospect of a mission of higher difficulty, the genin began to leave, before Iruka walked up to them.

"Look…I don't know if you're ready or not, but Kakashi thinks you're ready. I can count on him to protect you three, but please be careful." said Iruka with genuine worry.

"Don't worry Iruka-sensei, we will be careful. Just have some more faith in us." said Naruto, giving a slight smile. Iruka returned the smile, and went back to his seat, and the genin left the room.

(Next morning)

Having received the warning, Tazuna had arrived at the gate, completely sober. He did not want to risk getting fried to a crisp. The genin of the team were waiting there for him. The Jounin was nowhere in sight however.

"Okay, now where is that guy? I don't want to wait forever for him." he said, irritated.

"Knowing him, he will-" began Sakura, but was interrupted by a Shunshin, and the familiar face of their one-eyed Jounin sensei. The genin's eyes widened and they tried to dispel the supposed Genjutsu they were in.

"Seriously, this is what you think of me?" said Kakashi, with a fake hurt voice, only to receive a deadpan stare from all three of his students. "…okay, I should've seen this coming. Let's get going them." he quickly said, diverting the topic.

"Sooo Naruto, this is your first time officially leaving the village. How do you feel?" came Kiana's voice. Both her and Mei were interested to see the world outside the village area.

'I'm excited to see what the world offers. There's only so much in the village after all. Since it's a C rank, chances of encountering ninja are very slim, so I can take in the sights of the world.' said Naruto, with the excitement noticeable in his mental voice.

The team along with their client left through the gates, and the barrier that was built around Konoha to detect intruders. The instant Naruto took his first step out of the barrier, a surge of energy burst out from him, and into the sky. It was unnoticeable to the genin and the client, and Kakashi only noticed a surge of bright light in the peripheral vision of his left eye, before it immediately faded. Ignoring this, he continued to lead the team.

Meanwhile in the seal, Mei and Kiana noticed the surge. "Wait, why did Honkai energy burst out like that? It's never happened before" said Kiana, worried about the unexpected action.

"I have no idea Kiana. Maybe it's because of the village's seal that prevented high levels of energy from leaking out? Or did we go out of the base's barrier's range?" hypothesized Mei. "Either way, I don't think anyone saw that…unless…"

(In one of the mountains of Kaminari no Kuni)

Near the top of a tall mountain that nearly reached the clouds, there was a small cave with a very faint light coming from it. Inside the cave, bright red eyes flashed open.

"So…one of them has awakened." said a voice. " I wonder which one." said the owner of the voice as they stood up from their seated position, and grabbed a red cloak hanging from the rock.

"Only one way to find out." they said as a cloaked figure dashed out of the cave at extreme speeds and ran down the mountain. They passed a broken sign board which appeared to be very worn out. The only part that could be made out was:

_**M-u- -a- X- **_

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

This took a while, since there's lot of lore coming out with every patch, so I don't want to include too much outdated stuff in this. So please bear with me if updates become much slower. Each patch gets only 1 new chapter and it lasts a month. APHO had some new info, but its story isn't updated as frequently either. So please don't expect the next chapter to come until 4.1 ends at the very least. (not going to guarantee that it will come immediately as soon as it ends, but I will try my best)

Also I added a summary, so please tell me how it is.

As usual, Review Please! Positive feedback is very much welcome, constructive criticism will be accepted, but flames will be ignored.

As usual, please let me know if the quality of writing has declined since the last chapter. That way, I'll see if there's a way I can improve the next one.

Thanks for reading this chapter!

DelTheAUO, Out.


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